The Augurey and the Serpent
by original-star-girl-78
Summary: It's 1994 and Severus Snape has his hands full with the Dark Lord's return. But Delphi Riddle has something much bigger in mind...
1. Chapter 1

**PART 1: ACT 1**

_What do you wanna make those eyes at me for  
If they don't mean what they say?  
They make me glad, they make me sad,  
They make me want a lot of things that I never had._

Emile Ford and The Checkmates, "What Do You Wanna Make Those Eyes At Me For?" UK Number 1 on 9th January 1960 (Severus Snape's birthday)

August 1994

It was a clear and sultry night in Spinner's End and Severus Snape was feeling increasingly restless. The next academic year was going to be extremely challenging for him, to say the least. The Dark Lord had now taken up residency in his father's old familial home in Little Hangleton, with Wormtail drawing the short straw of looking after him and keeping him alive with constant feedings of a potion which included venom from Nagini. Of course, it had been Severus who had devised the potion in the first place and had shown Wormtail how to create and administer it, and how to milk a snake properly. Severus remembered how scared Wormtail looked when handling a viper for the first time, and how pathetic his first few attempts at the potion were. But Severus persevered until Wormtail got it exactly right. There was no way he was going to let Wormtail's incompetence reflect badly on his own Potions prowess. And, thankfully, the Dark Lord had been pleased with the results.

But if Severus had thought he'd been let off the hook for his hard work, he'd been sadly mistaken as the Dark Lord had yet another task for him, one of even greater significance to his return: the creation of a Resurrection Potion, one that would bring the Dark Lord back to his true form. Which meant Severus was spending his sleepless summer nights worrying about the future and researching obscure dark magic. He supposed it appeared to be a walk in the park compared to babysitting the homunculus form of the Dark Lord, but the pressure to get the Resurrection Potion right was high and he was sure he would repay any failure with his life.

He was flicking through a stack of ageing parchments he'd acquired from Borgin and Burkes detailing ancient Inferi rites when there was a sharp rap at the door. With a sigh, he rose and swiftly crossed the small tatty living room into the hall, cursing his uninvited visitor. Scowling, he drew his wand and ripped the door open forcefully with his free hand, fully expecting the rattish oaf Wormtail to be shaking and weeping in front of him from being chastised by the Dark Lord with a Cruciatus Curse for the umpteenth time. Instead, he was met with the sight of a pretty young woman dressed in what looked to be grungy Muggle clothing, leaning nonchalantly on the doorframe and smiling through a sweep of eyeliner and a slick of lipgloss. His scowl turned into a momentary flash of surprise. Even though he'd never seen the young lady before, something about her mannerisms nagged him as being vaguely familiar.

"Alright Severus. Can I come in?"

Snape's hand gripped his wand tighter. "Who are you and how do you know me?" he asked slowly.

"I'm Delphini. But you can call me Delphi. And I know everything. Seriously, can I please come in? I'm sweating like a Boggart in a mirror shop out here. And I really don't have a lot of time." She shrugged her faded denim jacket over her slight shoulders, revealing slender arms and a thin black cropped vest top emblazoned with the words BLACK SABBATH in purple writing.

Severus tried in vain not to look at the young woman's lithe torso as she arched her back and finally wriggled out of the jacket, her tight low-slung ripped jeans providing a flash of smooth, pale, flat stomach. His wand remained raised. "What do you want?"

Delphi pouted and ran her black-tipped fingernails through the tendrils of silver-blue hair that had escaped her high ponytail and which framed her face, her eyelids heavy as she put on her best seductive expression and in a low, Marlene Dietrich voice uttered, "I want you to make love to me."

Severus stared at her blankly for a second before Delphi burst into melodic giggles.

"Well, that's not the main reason I'm here, obviously," she went on dismissively, waving a hand without a hint of embarrassment. "I'm from the future and I'm here to change to the past."

Now Severus looked at her like she was mentally unstable and went to close the door but Delphi slammed a scuffed army-booted foot in the gap to keep it open.

"Look, it's a long and improbable story, but the longer we talk out here the more chance of someone seeing us," she whispered urgently, plunging a hand inside her vest top and pulled out a long thin chain with a glistening object on the end. "Time-Turner. I make it August 1994, and that means You-Know-Who is working on getting his body back. Am I right?"

A muscle in Severus' jaw twitched, but he never lowered his wand.

"I told you, I know everything. I know why Harry Potter's green eyes make you angry and I know that your Patronus is a doe for the same reason." Her foot began tapping with impatience.

Now Severus' wand arm faltered as he took this in. _Impossible_ was his first thought, but yet the girl had just implied that she knew his greatest secret as well as the Dark Lord's doings. "Why are you here?" he asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I need your help," she replied simply, her hands open in a gesture of truce.

Severus mulled this over for a moment. A young time-travelling witch from the future needed his help. And she seemed to know a lot about him, the Dark Lord and perhaps even the outcome of the war. But that could make her very dangerous indeed. If she was here to help the Dark Lord, Merlin knew what horrors could lie ahead.

"And which side are you on?" His voice did not betray the unsettled feeling rising inside him.

"The right one, of course. I'm here to bring that snake-nosed motherfucker down." She stared at him defiantly, and Severus took the opportunity to brush her mind with his own with the lightest of touches, to ascertain her motives. The statement she had just given appeared to be the unwavering truth.

Delphi tore her eyes away, breaking the Legilimency. "Now do you believe me?"

In response, Severus poked his head out of the door and looked both ways in case it was some kind of trap, then wordlessly stepped aside and let Delphi in. As she slinked past he noticed what looked to be an intricate tattoo of wings on each of her shoulder blades poking out of the sides of her flimsy racerback vest top, and he tried hard not to imagine what the whole thing would look like on her naked flesh.

Despite his best efforts, Delphi had spotted him looking. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" she smirked over her shoulder.

A flash of annoyance, arousal and curiosity flooded through him at the same time as he turned from her and slammed the door shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**PART 1: ACT 2**

Delphi walked through to the living room without invitation, glancing around at every corner. She carelessly tossed her denim jacket on the back of a threadbare sofa and began examining the spines of the myriad books that adorned floor to ceiling shelves along the wall, one hand tucked into the back pocket of her jeans as the other traced the warn leather covers. Severus watched her wearily from the doorway in silence.

"Cosy cottage you have here. A bit shabby though. It could do with a woman's touch." At this, she turned to face Severus, catching his eye and smirking as she moved her finger from the bookshelf and ran a delicate finger along her collarbone.

Severus remained unmoved at the apparent flirtation. "When are you from? And how, exactly, do you think I'll be able to help you?"

Delphi let her hand flop to her side with a dramatic sigh. "You might need to sit down for this."

After a few moments of hesitation, Severus crossed the lounge and sat in a high-backed leather chair in the corner, his eyes never leaving the young woman as she paced the room back and forth, preparing to speak.

"I'm from 2020, but that's not relevant. What IS relevant is why I need your help. And for you to understand this, I need to tell you how You-Know-Who managed to survive the Killing Curse back when Harry Potter was a baby."

"Go on," Severus said slowly, the memory of the attack as painful to him as if it had happened yesterday.

"He made Horcruxes. Ever heard of them?"

"An object in which a fragment of a person's soul is hidden for the purpose of attaining immortality," he answered coolly, as if straight out of a textbook. "It was rumoured that Herpo the Foul created one, but no-one had dared-"

"Exactly!" Delphi interrupted, putting both hands on the back of the sofa and leaning forwards for emphasis. "Herpo the Foul created ONE Horcrux. You-Know-Who created several. Six, he'd thought, but there were actually seven in total. Do you know how a Horcrux is made?"

At this point, Severus frowned, concern beginning to spread over his usually unreadable features. "No."

Delphi's head fell forwards and she breathed deeply in and out through her nose before continuing. "You'll need to brace yourself for this because it's not pleasant, but it's something you need to know. Horcruxes are made by committing murder. The act of committing murder is what splits the soul initially. So You-Know-Who killed seven people to create his Horcruxes, the evil bastard." She paused to let that sink in for a second. "Six of those murders he committed to deliberately make Horcruxes, but the seventh was accidental. He'd had no idea he'd made the seventh Horcrux when he performed that murder. THAT murder was the murder of Lily Potter, and the seventh Horcrux was Harry Potter."

Severus looked like he'd been punched in the gut. His beloved Lily, not only murdered by the Dark Lord but also now an instrument in the Dark Lord's immortality. Her only child, living with a piece of the Dark Lord inside them. He felt physically sick.

When he next spoke, his voice sounded hoarse under the weight of so much unspoken emotion. "Do you wish to destroy these Horcruxes?"

Delphi walked around the sofa shaking her head seriously, taking a seat on one of the arms.

"Oh no. I intend to do something much better than that. I'm going to stop him making the Horcruxes in the first place." She gave Severus a meaningful look.

"And how are you going to do that?"

"Easy. I'm going to go back in time and change the copy of the book that You-Know-Who used to create his Horcruxes. So he'll THINK he's created them, but he hasn't at all. And then we'll be able to kill him." She smiled as innocently as if she had just suggested going for ice cream.

Severus raised his eyebrows at both the audacity and simplicity of the plan. "I do not see how you need my assistance. You seem to have thought of everything."

Delphi gave another sigh. "Well, this is the thing. I need the right tool." Once again she plunged her hand inside her vest top and pulled out the thin chain with the Time-Turner on the end, watching the little hourglass glinting in the dim light. "This Time-Turner is like the most basic bitch of Time-Turners and I need something better. It's a long story, but the first one I got hold of was really unstable and only let me stay in the past for five minutes, which just wasn't long enough to do what I needed to do. So then I stole this one from the Department of Mysteries and it's far more stable but it won't let me travel any further back than thirty years and then only for an hour at a time. I need to go back even further and for longer, because You-Know-Who created his Horcruxes when he was a young man. "

Severus assessed the young woman in front of him, a growing respect of her plan and how far she had come to have gotten to this point.

"And how do I fit in to all this?"

She gazed at Severus and when she spoke next her tone was hushed and solemn. "I have it on good authority that your friend Lucius Malfoy is in possession of a Golden Time-Turner, specially made for him by one of his Unspeakable cronies. But THIS Time-Turner has none of the restrictions of the others; it can go back in time for up to a hundred years and for a limitless amount of time. My plan only works if I can use that Time-Turner. Malfoy Manor has more wards on it than Azkaban, so I need the assistance of someone who can come and go in Chez Malfoy without arousing suspicion and find the Time-Turner, namely you. Are you in?"

Severus thought back to the night of Lily's murder, of all the pain and anger that raged inside him to this day, and the desecration of her only living flesh by Dark Lord, and did not hesitate in giving his answer.

"Yes," he said firmly, and Delphi's dark eyes shone with triumph.


	3. Chapter 3

**PART 1: ACT 3**

Delphi and Severus trudged up a secluded lane which led to the perimeter of the Malfoy estate. The night was still and quiet apart from the sound of gravel grinding underfoot. The combination of the gibbous moon and Severus' lit wand guided their way. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Severus eventually spoke.

"I have been thinking about your plan and there are a few things which do not make sense to me," he uttered in his deep drawl, looking resolutely ahead.

"Go on," Delphi replied calmly, trotting a little to keep up with Severus' brisk pace.

"Why don't you just go back in time and kill the Dark Lord as a baby? That would seem to be the most straightforward option."

"And one which could have the most severe and unintended consequences on the timeline," Delphi countered flatly. "Trust me, a big event like removing him altogether would change the world far too much, and not necessarily for the good. We have to keep HIS timeline running parallel to how it did before or it all goes crazy. And Killing You-Know-Who as a baby could pave the way for another evil wizard to rise up. YOU might grow up to be the Dark Lord without You-Know-Who there. What do you make of that?" She jutted out her pretty chin with an air of finality.

Severus shuddered at the thought, but had to concede that she had a point. He hadn't considered how important every little action and decision the Dark Lord had made and their knock-on effects, and how careful they would need to be to keep his timeline as it is now. But something else was nagging him.

"So why don't you merely destroy the book?"

"I had a feeling you'd ask that. If I destroyed the book, you can bet You-Know-Who would make it his life's mission to find another and the same thing might end up happening anyway, just a few years later, and then all our hard work would be for nothing. And I'm not racing around the world hunting down every copy like some deranged fucking librarian," Delphi replied casually, fishing in the pocket of her denim jacket for what appeared to be a strange, clear glass pipe.

She noticed Severus eyeing the thing suspiciously. "It's a Vape. A new-fangled way of smoking without the messy, smelly business of cigarettes." She inhaled a puff of caramel-smelling smoky vapour and then handed the end towards Severus. "Wanna toke?"

Severus merely wrinkled his nose in response. Delphi shrugged, took another puff and continued.

"So destroying the book is a no-go. But, if I alter the book in a way where creating a Horcrux does not entail murder, You-Know-Who won't kill anyone and therefore he won't actually end up creating any Horcruxes at all, but he'll _think_ he has. So _his_ timeline continues as it always had, just that he doesn't know he hasn't got eternal life."

Severus thought for a moment. "But what does that mean for Harry Potter and the prophecy? Will he still be a target? Could he create an accidental Horcrux anyway?" _And will Lily still die_, he wondered desperately.

"Ah, well, that depends when we're planning to kill You-Know-Who in his timeline, doesn't it?" She smiled enigmatically at him then, like she knew something that he didn't.

Severus had to admit that she appeared to have it all figured out. But still, it seemed a little too convenient to him, this beautiful rebellious witch from the future claiming to have all the answers. Was she really all she seemed?

"I cannot help but wonder, what's in this for you?" Severus asked carefully as they plodded ever onwards.

"Apart from saving countless lives and stopping one of the most evil wizards the world's ever seen, you mean?" Delphi gave him a half smile as she tucked her vape back inside the pocket of her denim jacket.

Severus gave her a side eye in return. "Yes. Apart from that."

"Aren't they good enough reasons?"

"In my experience, people's motives are rarely driven from pure altruism," he answered wearily.

Delphi laughed, her melodious giggle a counteraction to Severus' suspicion. "Well, obviously I want you to fuck my brains out, but apart from that–"

Severus stopped sharply, suddenly on high alert, putting his arm out to block Delphi from walking any further and cutting her off from her explicit train of thought.

"You should stay here. There are wards in place way beyond the perimeter fence and it would be dangerous to go any further."

He lowered his arm, seemingly oblivious to Delphi's previous comment. Delphi shook her head at his indifference and pulled out the Time-Turner from her vest, checking the little hour-glass by the dim light of Severus' wand. She watched the delicate stream of glowing sand trickling down from the nearly-empty upper chamber.

"I don't have long. I'll meet you back at Spinner's End in three hours."

Severus checked his pocket watch, nodded curtly, and then strode off into the night.

Delphi watched his receding form with a sigh. Then after a moment she resolutely clutched the Time-Turner in her left hand and with the index finger on her right hand, wound the hour-glass three times. The air around her became fuzzy and began to crackle before she disappeared into thin air with a pop, leaving not a trace behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**PART 1: ACT 4**

Delphi was already at Spinner's End waiting for Severus when he returned from Malfor Manor. She was sitting crossed-legged in front of the sofa on the floor of the sitting room with an open wine bottle next to her along with two chipped ceramic cups.

"Did you find it?" she asked without preamble as Severus swooped in, removing his cloak.

"It was exactly where you said it was, in a secret chamber under the drawing-room floor," he replied, taking a seat opposite her.

"I think that deserves a drink," she said with some satisfaction, pouring then handing Severus a cup full of wine. Severus took it from her with a noticeable trace of suspicion. "Don't worry, it hasn't got poison in it. I won't be offended if you check though. And sorry about the cups, I couldn't find any glasses."

Severus sniffed the wine and unselfconsciously cast a non-verbal spell on it then, satisfied he wasn't about to get poisoned, took a sip from the deep red liquid. "How did you know it was going to be there?" he asked after savouring a mouthful.

"I told you, I know everything. Malfoy Manor gets raided in a few year's time by the Ministry and they find all kinds of incriminating shit." She took a deep swig out of her cup, draining the last remnants and smacking her lips as she placed the cup on the floor. "So come on, then. Let the Niffler see the gold." She held out her hand expectantly.

Severus put his own cup down and reached inside his coat, pulling out a long, thin chain with a highly-polished glimmering golden Time-Turner dangling from it. Delphi eyed it hungrily, leaning forwards to take it, but Severus abruptly snapped his fist shut.

"I don't think so. Not until you tell me who you really are."

Delphi slumped back with a sigh, running one hand through the end of her ponytail.

"I want to tell you, I really do. But it isn't the right time. If I tell you now, you'll jump to all kinds of incorrect presumptions about me and my life which will jeopardise the whole operation. Killing You-Know-Who is the priority and nothing can get in the way of that. I will tell you, I promise. But not right now."

Severus appraised the young witch in front of him. She appeared to be telling the truth and he supposed she did have a point about unconscious biases. But it still required Severus to take a huge leap of faith and trust this mysterious witch and he wasn't quite sure if he was prepared to do that yet; there was still so much he wanted to know.

"What happened in your time? Did the Dark Lord triumph? Is that why you're here?"

Delphi groaned with annoyance, her head rolling back with exaggeration. "Urgh. You ask so many questions!" But then her head snapped back and she grinned impishly as an idea came to her. She grabbed the now-empty bottle, swigging it to be sure all the dregs had gone then sensuously licking the lip to catch any drips, not breaking eye contact with Severus. "Let's play a game of truth or dare. If the bottle lands on you, you get to pick one."

Before Severus could protest, Delphi had already spun the bottle and it clattered on the wooden floor as the end slowly came to a stop in front of him.

"Truth. Do you trust me?"

"Not entirely," he replied slowly. "I need more answers."

"Fair enough," Delphi replied easily, and she spun the bottle once more. This time the end pointed at her.

"Truth. Did the Dark Lord triumph in your time?"

Delphi paused before answering. "No, the right side won, but at great cost. Many people lost their lives and that could have been prevented. There was a huge battle and it destroyed most of Hogwarts. So many people died..." She looked conflicted, as if she wanted to say more but couldn't. "You-Know-Who was killed eventually, but it was bloody and messy, and there's a better way."

Severus took this in as Delphi spun the bottle again, and now it was Delphi's turn to ask a question.

"Truth. Are you attracted to me?"

It was clear this wasn't a question Severus had been expecting. "You are not an unattractive witch, and one that clearly doesn't need my approval," he replied awkwardly.

Delphi smirked, and spun the bottle again. Once more, it landed facing her.

"Truth. Why is this so important to you?"

The smirk fell from Delphi's face then and she suddenly became very serious. She drew a deep breath before speaking. "All my life, people have assumed things about me, judging me on how I look and how they think I should act. Presuming that I'm inherently bad because of where I've come from, or because I'm slightly different. And I'm fucking sick of it." Her eyes were shining with emotion. "I'm not a bad person. I shouldn't be judged by other people's mistakes. I should be judged on my own actions, on my own merit. And I have the chance to do something fucking amazing and change the world for the better, so that's what I'm going to do."

She leaned forwards and spun the bottle with some finality, letting Severus take this in. The young woman clearly had more depth than he gave her credit for. The bottle skidded to a stop facing him.

"Dare," Delphi said with relish, and the impish smile was back once more as she rose and walked towards Severus. "Kiss me."

Severus didn't move, not knowing if this was some kind of trap, but still Delphi moved forwards until she had bent down in front of him, their faces barely inches apart. Her lips had parted and her pupils had dilated and still she moved agonisingly closer until her mouth brushed his. He could taste the sweet wine on her silky lips, the warmth of them sending volts of desire through him. His instinct told him he had to pull away before he did something they both regretted.

Delphi stood up abruptly as Severus moved his head to the side, trying but failing to completely hide her disappointment.

"Well, I think we've had enough of that game. Can I please have the Time-Turner now?" Her voice was brisk, almost businesslike as she held out her hand.

Severus could feel a blush rising from his collar and looked away with embarrassment from the young witch as he placed the Time-Turner in her palm.

Delphi held it up to the light, marvelling at the intricate engravings and the workmanship, and how the sands in the hourglass glowed even brighter than in the one currently hanging from her neck.

"Thank you for getting this for me. But I'm afraid this was the easy bit. The real work begins now. Are you still in?"

"I am," he replied, his face once more the inscrutable mask as he quashed down his feelings, his lips still tingling from their electrifying kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

**PART 1: ACT 5**

Delphi awoke the following morning on Severus' sofa, desperately needing to pee and draped in a scratchy old blanket that definitely wasn't there when she had fallen asleep the previous night. With a small smile at the thoughtfulness of the gesture, she pushed the blanket off with a stretch and padded through the house to find the bathroom, grateful that the Golden Time-Turner now allowed her to stay in the past as long as she wanted. She made no effort to be quiet, performing her ablutions whilst singing to herself. By the time her bladder was empty, her body washed and her clothes and hair Scourgified, Severus was now up and clattering around in the kitchen and making all the hallmark noises of preparing tea.

Delphi leaned on the door jamb and watched him magically pour hot water from the boiled kettle into what looked to be a teapot from the 1970's on a faded tea-tray whilst simultaneously retrieving a teaspoon from a shabby drawer. He made no effort to acknowledge her presence.

"Sleep well?" she asked cheerfully. "I slept like a baby. Must've been good wine."

Severus ignored this, sending the tea-tray zooming out in front of him and causing Delphi to pin herself flat against the door frame as it chinked and rattled, floating past her into the sitting room. Severus strode past quickly behind it and Delphi unpeeled herself from the doorway and hurried after.

"I am interested to hear exactly how you intend to enact phase two of your plan," Severus said as he set the tinkling tea-tray down on a rickety side table. "So far, you have told me _what_ you intend to do, but have mysteriously omitted the _how_."

"Always with the questions," Delphi grumbled, flopping back onto the sofa. "Can I at least have a cuppa before we start with the Spanish Inquisition again?"

Wearily, Severus conceded, sending a cup of tea over to her followed by a small jug of milk. Delphi caught the tea in one hand and the jug in the other, pouring the milk deliberately slowly and stirring the cup with a flourish, tapping the rim of the cup with the teaspoon three times to get rid of the drips before taking a loud, exaggerated slurp. She could practically feel the waves of annoyance radiating off Severus. She savoured the moment and took another large gulp before setting the cup down on the side with a rattle and a big sigh.

"Right, then. You want to know about the book?"

Severus nodded, his patience clearly wearing very thin.

"OK. Well. As you might know, Armando Dippet was the Headmaster of Hogwarts before Albus Dumbledore, back when You-Know-Who was a pupil. He thought it was perfectly reasonable to host THE most evil grimoire known to Wizardkind, called _Secrets of the Darkest Art_, in the Hogwarts Library, where any curious child or would-be megalomaniac Dark Lord in training could get their grubby hands on it. More like Armando Dipshit, am I right?"

Delphi slapped her thigh and let out a bark of a laugh at her own joke whilst Severus listened closely, his face as usual stoic and betraying no sign of amusement as he waited for her to proceed.

"Anyhoo. Dumbledore had the good grace to remove the vile thing when he became Headmaster but by then it was too late, You-Know-Who had already created his first Horcrux when he'd been at school."

She took another big swig of tea, smacked her lips and continued.

"Now I know what you're thinking: Who did he kill to create his first Horcrux? Well, that was an unfortunate Ravenclaw girl by the name of Myrtle Warren, otherwise known as resident Hogwarts ghost Moaning Myrtle. We know that she died on 13th June 1943, when You-Know-Who was sixteen, so therefore we know that we'll need to change the book before he starts school, so before September 1938. Are you with me so far?"

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Yes, but that still doesn't explain _how _you're going to change the book."

Delphi held her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Hold your Hippogriffs! I'm getting to that bit! Patience, Padawan."

Severus looked puzzled at being called a _Padawan_ as Delphi drained her teacup before continuing.

"OK. So, we know Horcruxes are made by splitting the soul, and one way of achieving that is by murder. But, do you know how these things are made?" Delphi reached inside her vest and pulled out both Time-Turners, dangling from their delicate chains. "THESE, believe it or not, are made in a not too dissimilar way to Horcruxes, but in a less violent way. I'm no Unspeakable and all of this information I've learned through books but it sounds like the same Dark Magic as Horcruxes to me, just a bit more sophisticated. Time-Turners are created by shaving off a portion of the creator's own timeline. Typically, for one of the usual Ministry-approved Time-Turners it might be no more than a few hours." At this, she picked up her original silver Time-Turner. "But for something more advanced, to allow you to stay in the past for longer and to go further back, it would need more time from the creator. Maybe even years or decades." She held up the Golden Time-Turner, watching the sands slowly trickle through.

Severus was now rapt with attention, his black eyes gleaming at this new knowledge as he waited for Delphi to go on.

"I suppose you could compare making a Horcrux to ripping a loaf of bread in two – it's violent and inelegant, but it gets the job done. Whereas making a Time-Turner is much more precise, it's like using a very sharp knife to slice off a tiny sliver of bread. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," Severus replied slowly.

"Good. So, in answer to your question, my plan is to replace the Horcrux spell in the _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ with the spell that is used to shave off time in order to create Time-Turners."

Severus thought about this for a second.

"So the Horcruxes will become accidental Time-Turners instead? Won't that create even more problems? And, how do you know the spell will even work?"

Delphi shook her head fiercely. "No, no, no. It's not the complete spell to create a Time-Turner. It's just the part that shaves off bits of time. Essentially, the Horcrux receptacles will house bits of You-Know-Who's life, rather than his soul. And I know the spell works because I tried it myself."

At this, Delphi fumbled in her pocked and pulled out a large, flat pebble, turning it over in her hands before tossing it over to Severus to examine.

"Looks like an ordinary stone, right? No magic to discern of."

Severus eyed the stone carefully before passing it back to Delphi.

"But watch this."

Delphi stood and pulled out her wand. She began muttering a charm over the stone and it glowed blue, much like the sands in the Time-Turner. After a minute tiny particles of blue swam up from the stone, swirling around into a kind of small vortex before suddenly rushing towards Delphi and surrounding her like an aura. After a few moments more, the particles clung to her, making Delphi glow eerily and then suddenly vanishing as they forced their way inside her. Delphi let out a cry of pain, breathing hard.

"What just happened?" Severus asked sharply.

"You just watched me regain an hour of my life," she replied, still a little breathless. "It hurts like hell cutting the time off and regaining the time, so You-Know-Who shouldn't question that he's done something terrible. But we're not going to tell him how to regain time, only how to shave it off and save it inside inanimate objects. So imagine that: he'll think he's made Horcruxes but actually, he's shaving off hours and years of his life. Imagine what that would mean. We could adjust how much time we want him to shave off. We'd be killing him slowly and _he wouldn't even know_."

Delphi smiled her impish smile then, and once more Severus was forced to admit that there was more to this beautiful and dangerous witch than he'd first imagined.


	6. Chapter 6

**PART 1: ACT 6**

"How do I look?"

Delphi twirled around in a circle in the middle of the sitting room coquettishly, then put her index finger on her cheek with her mouth pouting in a playful pastiche of a sexy schoolgirl pose. She had skilfully transfigured some old Muggle clothing into a plain replica late-1930's Hogwarts uniform. It had been easy for Severus to access some old school photographs from that era in order for her to get the detailing right. With a glamour charm on her hair, turning her usual bluish-silver ponytail to dark brown curtains framing her face, he had to admit she made a convincing student. Watching her laughing and posing with her different hairstyle, Severus once more couldn't shake the feeling that she reminded him of someone.

"You look passable," Severus admitted, looking her up and down. "But your uniform needs House colours."

"And what House do you think I should be Sorted into?" Delphi's dark eyes flashed mischievously as she ran her hands slowly down her front. "Do you think the Head of Slytherin House can handle me?"

A flash of excitement flooded through Severus at Delphi's flirtation, but he soon stamped that out. "Which House were you in at Hogwarts?" he asked matter-of-factly.

Delphi's seductive countenance dropped immediately. "Well, it's a long story and one I have promised to tell you all about another time, but I was actually home-schooled. I never got the chance to be Sorted. I feel like I missed out there, everyone makes such a big deal out of it." She looked down sadly.

Severus raised his eyebrows at this. It wasn't completely unknown for children to be home-schooled, especially those who were very rich, or Pure Bloods who didn't want their offspring mixing with Mudblood riff-raff. But still, it was uncommon enough to single her out as being different. He could see why it could seem isolating, not having had the experience of being Sorted; Houses were what defined most of Wizarding society, for good or for ill, and nearly every adult had some good memories of Hogwarts. Even him.

As Severus pondered on this, Delphi pointed her wand at a tatty cushion and Transfigured it into a crude oversized representation of the Sorting Hat. "I'm going to Sort myself," she said by way of explanation. And with that, she plopped the enormous hat on her head, which slipped past her eyes.

"Hmmm... Where to put you?" Delphi mimicked the Sorting Hat, putting on a croaky voice. "You're loyal alright, and there's a smattering of bravery too. But I can see lofty ambition and underrated intelligence in you. Better be... SLYTHERCLAW!" she yelled, tearing off the hat.

"That isn't a House," Severus admonished, secretly amused at her display.

"I know. But I do feel like I belong in either Slytherin or Ravenclaw, I just don't know which. Perhaps I'm just a weird hybrid of the two. What do you think?" She suddenly looked very young and vulnerable, like a child in need of reassurance.

Severus watched the young woman closely. From her expression, it was clear that the answer to this question meant a lot to her, having never had the experience of being Sorted for real. He would need to be careful with his answer. "I agree that you have traits of both Houses," he replied evenly. "But it's your choice to decide to which you have the most affiliation. I believe the Sorting Hat does take people's wishes into account when Sorting them."

Delphi toyed with her grey tie, currently absent of any House colour, as she considered this. The obvious choice would be to put her in Slytherin without any thought at all. Obvious, given her bloodline, which stretched all the way back to Salazar Slytherin himself. She could not deny that she could be cunning, manipulative, ruthless and ambitious when needed. But then she thought back to all the times that people had made assumptions about her purely because of her lineage, and how she had been saddled with her parent's mistakes and prejudices her whole life without a chance to have her own identity. She thought of how she wanted to break free from the stigma of blood status, and how she had fought so hard using her limited resources to right the many wrongs her parents had inflicted on the world. She thought of how she was an outsider and a misfit from the start, a mistake of a child who shouldn't have been born in the first place. And then she thought of poor Myrtle Warren, the girl caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and who became Tom Riddle's first victim on his grotesque path to immortality.

"I'm going to be in Ravenclaw," she announced suddenly, and with a wave of her wand the tie turned blue, as did the trim on her jumper as the Ravenclaw crest appeared proudly on the front of her robes.

"Very well," Severus replied, trying to ignore the small surge of disappointment swelling inside him from her choosing Ravenclaw over Slytherin. "Are you ready?"

"I am. Do you have the spell?"

Severus nodded. "The parchment is in my pocket."

Delphi broke into her Marlene Dietrich voice. "And I thought you were just pleased to see me."

Severus' face was as usual like stone but the small glimmer of amusement that registered in his eyes did not escape her.

Delphi held out both hands in front of her, the impish smile now back on her face. Severus stepped forwards and held them firmly. Delphi couldn't resist squeezing them and swinging them lightly from side to side. She noted how they were cool to the touch, even in the warm summer evening.

"Do not wriggle, I do not wish to repair a Splinching accident." He glared down his nose sternly at her, and she mock-pouted back at being chastised but stood stock-still nonetheless.

After a few moments, they had disappeared together in a blur of Apparation. Their destination: just outside the grounds of Hogwarts.


	7. Chapter 7

**PART 2: ACT 1**

_I met my maker,  
I made him cry.  
And on my shoulder he asked me why  
His people won't fly through the storm?  
I said, "Listen up man, they don't even know you're born!"_

\- Oasis "D'You Know What I Mean?" UK Number 1 on 14th July 1997 (Delphi Riddle's birthday)*

It was almost dark when Delphi and Severus arrived on a patch of scrubby land just outside the Hogwarts grounds. She stumbled into him slightly having landed heavily on an uneven bit of earth, with Severus holding her upright as she used her hands to steady herself on his chest. She looked up into his face with gratitude, enjoying being close to him. Her gaze flicked from his eyes to his mouth. She thought he looked ravishing in the diminishing daylight.

Severus did not need to use Legilimency to read what was on Delphi's mind. But it wasn't right, with her currently dressed like a schoolgirl. And besides, they had a job to do. She had to stop distracting him with her constant flirtations. It was enough to drive a man mad! He pulled away sharply and she tried to hide her disappointment.

Severus began striding towards the periphery of the magical wards purposefully. As he drew closer to the castle, the wards began to glow softly.

"Wait!" Delphi called, trying not to trip on various thistles and stones as she jogged to catch up with him. "I've just thought of something!"

Severus slowed to a halt and turned around. "What?"

"I'm not sure if the wards will let me through. They'll let you though, of course, because you're a teacher."

Severus considered this. "They'll let you through if you're with me," he answered after a moment, and held out his hand. Delphi broke into a grin and ran towards him, grabbing his hand once more with delight.

"I can't wait to see Hogwarts," she breathed, as they passed through the wards together and she took in the vista, the old castle looming up ahead of them.

o0o

"Are you quite sure the spell will work?" Severus asked as they walked down the deserted school corridors. Delphi's head turned this way and that, distracted by the sumptuous décor, the suits of armour and the wonderful architecture that years of working in the place had made him take for granted. She looked like a kid in a sweet shop. He supposed he'd felt the same way the first time he'd set foot in the castle, too.

"Yes, it's the same one I tried out myself, remember?" She stopped suddenly in front of a magical painting of the Fat Friar, who nodded and raised his golden goblet to her.

"And how do you know exactly how much time the spell will need to remove?"

Delphi waved cheerily at the Fat Friar and then fell back in step with Severus. "Ah, well, I was hoping you'd ask that. That was the complex bit. I had to calculate how many years of You-Know-Who's life needed to be shaved off in order to kill him at a precise date and time. He was 54 when he killed Lily, and he was 71 when he died at the Battle of Hogwarts in this timeline. So I calculated we'd need to shave off around 17 years in order to kill him in 1981 before he kills Lily. Well, to be accurate – just over 16 and a half years, or 198 months. Now, back in 1981, he only had 5 Horcruxes, as he didn't make Nagini a Horcrux until around now, actually. So each of the 5 _Fauxcruxes_ will house just over 39 and a half months of his life. Obviously, the spell is a lot more precise than that, going down to minutes and seconds, but you get the general idea."

Severus felt a wave of gratitude that she had planned to save Lily all along. But there was still more he needed to know.

"Will altering the Horcruxes somehow affect the prophecy? How do we know Lily would still be a target once they have been changed?"

Delphi didn't miss a beat. "Hadn't thought about that, to be honest. But I can't see why the prophecy would change. You-Know-Who still thinks he's created genuine Horcruxes and may still yet create an accidental one if he got to kill Lily, due to how she protected Harry. Which he won't, of course."

Severus pondered this as they rounded the corner to the corridor that led to the library.

"And what happens to the fake Horcruxes? Do they need to be destroyed?" he asked.

"The_ Fauxcruxes _are perfectly safe as inanimate objects. They are merely chunks of time frozen in a receptacle, they do not bond You-Know-Who to this earthly plane like bits of his soul does. They could stay unnoticed forever unless someone who knew what they really were decided to use the spell on them to release the time. And the only people who know they are not real are me and you." She waved her hands with a flourish.

"Once again, you seem to have thought of everything," Severus murmured as they reached the doors of the library. He held one of the ornate doors open for her.

"What can I say? I'm a Ravenclaw," she grinned, and entered the library with Severus following after.

_* A/N – I chose July for Delphi's birthday as the birth flower for that month is Larkspur, the common name for the genus Delphinium, many of which are a beautiful shade of blue (like her hair). The blue Larkspur flower is a symbol of support and trust. I chose the 14__th__ for the date as it coincides with Bastille Day, the date of the start of the French Revolution, as Delphi is starting a revolution of her own! Lyrically, the song fits where I see the story heading too._


	8. Chapter 8

**PART 2: ACT 2**

The library was silent and deserted. Thankfully, being both the summer holiday and well past eight o'clock in the evening, Delphi and Severus had the library completely to themselves. Severus had told Delphi that it was a teacher's privilege to come and go from the library at any hour, and to be able to access every single book, including those of a more nefarious nature in the Restricted Section.

As she stepped through into the centre of the library, Delphi craned her neck and span around, taking in the sheer enormity of it. She guessed that there had to be tens of thousands of books resting upon thousands of shelves packed together in hundreds of narrow rows. Just the thought of all that knowledge waiting to be consumed made her giddy; the amount of time she'd spent chasing down rare tomes to find out about time travel and using unconventional means to discover Unspeakable secrets when all the while, the sum of wizarding noesis was probably right here at Hogwarts.

Severus led the way to the back of the library towards the Restricted Section, the sound of his boots clicking on the polished parquet floor. "The fact you did not attend Hogwarts leads me to believe that you are either very rich, or come from a strictly Pureblood family," he mused aloud. She certainly had the fine cheekbones and fragile beauty associated with high-born wizarding nobility, even if her manners were somewhat lacking, he'd thought. And this had been gnawing at him since she had first mentioned it.

Delphi's eyes narrowed as she followed him through the winding bookshelves. "I told you, we're not discussing my origin story right now. I'm a fucking freak with Daddy issues is all you need to know for the time being. I'll bore you all about it when this is all over. But I need you to stop asking about it."

This did little to appease Severus' curiosity, but from the hard edge in her voice he could tell he would get no more from her at the moment. Still, she hadn't denied anything, so his theory might yet be right.

Stepping carefully over the rope that separated the Restricted Section from the rest of the library, he lit his wand and began searching for _Secrets of the Darkest Art._ He found it after a minute or two nestled next to _Magick Moste Evile_ on the top shelf, and handed it silently to Delphi, who turned it over in her hands with a disgusted expression on her face.

"Great. We've found the bloody book, now we need to go back in time." She reached up on tiptoes and put the book back in it's spot, and then rummaged in her school robes for the Golden Time-Turner. "Are you ready for this? It's quite a weird sensation if you haven't done it before."

Severus nodded, and Delphi wrapped the long thin chain of the Time-Turner around them both. Her face set in concentration, she murmured a calculation to herself as she wound the crown frantically. It seemed to Severus he could hear the sound of a bell tolling, and once Delphi released the crown the Time-Turner began to spin rapidly, the sands of time glowing bright blue, whilst everything around them became a blur of quickened motion. The light came and went as the sun rose and set giving a strobe effect, and all around them shadowy figures sped about, going about their day-to-day activities in high-speed reverse. Eventually, the action began to slow as the transition from night to day became longer and they landed with an undulating pop to what Severus could only presume to be the past. It was hard to tell though, as the library looked the same as it had for hundreds of years and it was the same time of day as when they'd left.

"Are you alright?" Delphi asked, rubbing her stomach. "I've not been back as far as this before and I'm feeling a bit queasy."

Severus had to agree. He screwed his eyes up and took a couple of deep breaths in to steady himself. After a moment, the motion sickness abated and his thoughts jumped to more practical matters.

"How do we know what year we're in?" Severus asked, quite reasonably.

"That's always the tricky bit of time-travel," Delphi conceded. "You have to make calculations and then trust you've come to the right time. Finding out _when_ you are is somewhat of an art." Her face then lit up with inspiration. "I've got an idea how we can find out."

She headed off to the front desk with Severus hurrying after, his brow furrowed with puzzlement.

"What are you doing?" he asked, watching her riffling through the desk, clearly searching for something.

"Aha!" was all she said in response when she'd found what she was looking for: an old-fashioned librarian's date stamp and ink pad. With one quick motion she dipped the stamp into the ink and pressed it into the palm of her hand, holding it up for Severus to read.

AUG 29 1938

Severus couldn't help but look impressed, even if he wouldn't admit it, as he followed her back to the Restricted Section. Her intelligence definitely belonged in Ravenclaw, he thought, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she was right about being conflicted in her House loyalty as there was clearly a healthy dose of Slytherin in her too. He watched her take _Secrets of the Darkest Art _down off the shelf and scan the pages.

"Urgh, this shit is disgusting," she said after a minute or two. "Really grim. I've found the spell section. Do you have the parchments?"

Severus wordlessly handed over the documents and watched as Delphi carefully erased the offending pages of the book with a flick of her wand, then magically copy the spell from the parchment on to the blank pages. The whole process took about ten minutes. When she was done, she got Severus to look over her handiwork.

"Looks convincing," Severus agreed. "The book does not look like it has been tampered with."

"Great. That's phase one done, then. But I've just got one more ickle teeny thing to do whilst we're here. It won't take a mo." And with that, Delphi began trotting out of the library, leaving Severus outraged at this sudden addition to the plan.

"Delphi! Where are you going? We need to get our of here!"

"Just popping to the Chamber of Secrets," she called over her shoulder cheerfully. "Be right back!"

Severus looked like his eyes would pop out of his head as he hurried after her, cursing loudly.


	9. Chapter 9

**PART 2: ACT 3**

"What the hell are you doing?" Severus hissed, hurrying after Delphi as she swiftly headed down the staircase. "You might get killed!"

"I know what I'm doing," Delphi answered breezily. "Trust me."

"But what if someone sees you?"

"I'm the one wearing a school uniform. You should be worried about what happens if someone sees _you_. I hope you can cast a good Disillusionment Charm." She smirked as she rounded down another flight of stairs with Severus still bristling after her.

"Do you even know where the Chamber is, and how to get in it? And for your information, there is a Basilisk down there! One of the most dangerous creatures there is!"

Delphi stopped and closed her eyes momentarily, holding up her hands in a gesture of truce before speaking. "Honestly, Severus, I've got this. The Basilisk is fatal if you look in it's eyes, so I suggest you keep your eyes averted if you're coming with me. As for the rest, you just need to trust me. Please?"

Severus did not look happy. "Why are you doing this?"

"There is chance that Myrtle Warren might still be killed by You-Know-Who when he opens the Chamber. I have to stop that happening." And with that, she continued down the stairs and turned right into a corridor on the second floor, with Severus still at her heels glaring with exasperation.

"Hmm, it's got to be here somewhere..." she murmured to herself. "Aha!" And with that, she dived into a girl's toilet, leaving Severus hovering outside for a moment, not knowing if to go in or not. Letting her out of his sight made his skin itch, so despite his better judgement he followed her through.

"So what's your plan? Are you intending to kill the Basilisk?"

"Nope," said Delphi unhelpfully, bending over and examining the sink taps one by one until she found the one with a little engraving of a snake on the side. "I don't like killing harmless animals."

"So what, then?"

Delphi stood and withdrew her wand, pointing it at the mirror above the sink and cast a spell which ripped it from the wall and sent it soaring over to Severus, who caught it easily.

"We're going to make it commit glorious suicide, just like we're going to do with You-Know-Who. You'll need to bring the mirror."

Severus processed the plan as he watched Delphi lean in close to the tap. She appeared to be whispering something, but what he could not make out. Suddenly, the room began to shake as the sink started to move. The juddering sink sank right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for them to slide into.

"Coming?" she asked, before stepping inside the pipe and sliding away.

Clutching the mirror tightly to his chest, Severus followed after. It was like sliding down a very steep, slimy, pitch-black slide. He could hear Delphi laughing and whooping ahead of him as he passed many smaller pipe openings branching out in all directions. Down and down they went, surely deeper below the school than the dungeons, and just as he'd begun to worry that they would fall forever, the pipe levelled out and he shot out of the end with his feet landing heavily on the wet floor with a squelchy thud.

"Whoo, that was a rush!" Delphi cried, her excited voice echoing off the dank walls. She'd already lit the tip of her wand and the light from it cast an eerie glow on the damp stone.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Severus replied, in a tone that suggested that he did not for one minute believe the answer.

"Of course. When we get in there, you need to keep that mirror in front of you at all times. Any sudden movement, shut your eyes. OK?"

"But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I told you, I've got this."

And with that, Delphi went striding off into the dark tunnel, leaving Severus to follow in her wake.

The tunnel turned and turned again, almost doubling back on itself into a large spiral shape, until they rounded yet another bend and saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

"_Open_," said Delphi with a hiss, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker in the dim light as the serpents parted and the two halves of the wall divided and slid smoothly out of sight.

"Parseltongue?" Severus gave Delphi a sharp look as his stomach seemed to flood with cold water. "Who are you?"

"I told you, no questions," Delphi replied calmly. "Trust me. Now come on, I need to concentrate. And keep that mirror up."

Together, they slowly entered the Chamber, which was very long and dimly lit. Severus held the mirror in front of his face, staring down at his boots as they carefully edged forwards, trying hard not to look around at the details around him. Towering stone pillars were entwined with more carved serpents, supporting a high ceiling lost in darkness, and casting long black shadows through the murky greenish gloom.

Delphi stopped suddenly and cocked an ear. Then, holding her wand to her throat to magically amplify her voice, she spoke loudly and clearly in Parseltongue:

"_Come to me, serpent. I am the heir of Slytherin and you are compelled to do my bidding!"_

To Severus, it just sounded like hissing and he'd had no idea what Delphi had said, but he now knew for sure it was Parseltongue and the noise of the inhuman speech made the hair stand up on the back of his neck.

After a moment, a sickening scraping sound of what could only be scales over stone could be heard from just ahead of them as the giant Basilisk answered the call of the snake language and obeyed Slytherin's heir.

Delphi ducked behind Severus and pressed close into his back. "Keep that mirror up, it's coming," she breathed.

Closer and closer came the serpent. Severus could hear it hissing as it drew near but only Delphi understood what it was saying: _"I am coming, Master. I am here to obey you."_

Delphi said in return, _"Let me see you, beast of Slytherin! Come to me!" _And then she her lit wand and held it just in front of Severus, in order to illuminate the mirror.

The scraping got louder and louder and suddenly stopped, followed by a terrible scream and the sound of several tons of dying Basilisk keeling over on to the ancient stone floors. And than, there was silence.

Severus slowly peered over the mirror as Delphi stepped from behind him.

"Dead," she announced with a note of glee. "Killed by it's own gaze. It's quite poetic really."

Severus chanced a look at the dead serpent, and winced at what he saw. The beast was terrible, thick as an oak trunk with poisonous green scales and fangs as large as a man's hand. It's bulbous eyes looked as if they had been melted away with acid, leaving gaping black holes.

"Right, let's clean this mess up shall we?" Delphi got to work vanishing the giant snake, which took several attempts as it was so big, leaving Severus mulling over what he had just witnessed.

She could speak Parseltongue, the rarest of languages that was associated with Salazar Slytherin himself. Legend had it that the Chamber of Secrets could only be opened by Slytherin's heir. Which must mean...

"You're related to him, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you mean," Delphi replied, vanishing the mirror for good measure.

"Slytherin. You're descended from Salazar Slytherin."

Delphi turned and faced Severus, her expression serious. "I renounce the symbol of the serpent and all that it stands for. I am the new past. I am the new future. I am the answer this world has been looking for. I am the Augurey."

Severus blinked, not fully understanding the Sphynx-like riddle in answer to his interrogation.

"Oh, and I'm also bloody starving. Let's get some chips." And with that, she began walking towards the Chamber doors, leaving Severus staring at the brilliant yet puzzling woman in front of him like she was slightly deranged.


	10. Chapter 10

**PART 2: ACT 4**

"Mmm. I love chips."

Delphi was once more sitting crossed-legged on the floor of Spinner's End, picking out deliciously fatty wedges of potato from an expanse of grease-stained white paper and devouring them with relish. She had shed the schoolgirl outfit and dark hair and was back to her usual pale-haired and blue-tipped self, although this time she had Transfigured her clothes into metallic silver leggings and a tight black vest with a see-through mesh top overlaid to go with her habitual faded denim jacket and scuffed army boots.

Severus eyed her as he slowly ate some chips of his own, the taste bringing back all kinds of memories about his Muggle roots. He had to admit that she did not look like a person who had just brought down the fiercest creature in the wizarding world, and yet she'd done it without as much as batting an eyelid. There was no doubting she was brave and clever, if not overly reckless. She was a Parselmouth and therefore, he was sure, related to Salazar Slytherin himself. As was, he reminded himself, the Dark Lord. But he was quite sure the Dark Lord had no siblings, so exactly who this mysterious woman could be and how she could possibly be related to them both, he had yet to fathom out.

They had travelled forwards to September 1981, just after Severus had started teaching at Hogwarts, to be sure there was no way of him banging in to his past self. It made sense, of course, but it felt like Delphi's plan was beginning to reach it's apex and yet he still did not know how it was going to resolve or indeed, if what they had achieved so far had played out in the way they wanted it to. Severus, as usual, had many more questions.

"I have been thinking about your _Fauxcruxes_," he began after swallowing a chip. "What would happen if someone managed to release the trapped time from them?"

Delphi sucked the grease off her thumb with a smack of her lips. "That's a good question," she replied, her eyes narrowing with thought. "It depends what spell was used I guess. We know Unspeakables use a different spell to harness the trapped time and convert it into Time-Turners. If someone were to destroy the _Fauxcruxes_, presumably it would cause some kind of ripple or warp in spacetime given the amount of conserved time in them. That could actually be pretty dangerous. Like a black hole."

Maddeningly for Severus, she carried on eating her chips as if she'd just announced something as mundane as the weather.

"Shouldn't you have thought of that _before_ we changed the book?" Severus' tone was even, but there was an edge to it that didn't go unnoticed by Delphi.

She sighed. "I think it's low risk, to be honest with you. Dumbledore doesn't get wind of the Horcrux idea until the 1990s, and You-Know-Who will die next month if everything goes to plan. So in the new future, the idea of Horcruxes will be irrelevant as they clearly don't exist as You-Know-Who will be dead."

Severus thought about this for a moment. It made sense, but the _Fauxcruxes_ seemed like they had the potential to be powerful and dangerous objects in the wrong hands.

"How can something with the power to destroy the world be low risk?" he asked, not unreasonably.

"Well, the thing is, You-Know-Who was very smart about the objects he chose to be his Horcruxes. Apart from his snake, which was a living entity and would of course die at some point, and Harry Potter, which he didn't know about. Oh, and his diary, which was just a diary," she added dismissively, waving a hand in the air for emphasis. "But the other four, the ones he created as a younger man – they were trophies in the very real sense of the word. Precious objects that people would covet to own, not to destroy."

Severus swallowed another chip as he took this in. "And what were these objects?"

Delphi counted them off one by one on the fingers of one hand. "Salazar Slytherin's locket. Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. And one of the Deathly Hallows – the Resurrection Stone, encased in a beautiful yet cursed ring."

Severus raised his eyebrows. Truly, the Dark Lord had excelled himself in finding the perfect vessels to contain his immortality. And the Hallows it seemed were more than just a child's story. But still, he had more questions.

"Do you think if would be possible to add the time from the _Fauxcruxes_ to someone else's timeline in order to extend their life?" he mused.

Delphi finished her last chip and screwed up the paper wrappings into a ball. "Quite possibly," she answered. "Well, that's what the Philosopher's Stone does, doesn't it? Maybe we have actually created dormant mini-Philosopher's Stones just waiting for the right spell to unlock them." She grinned then, like she had just become aware of her own genius.

Severus suppressed a smirk but his eyes glittered at the possibilities. It looked like Delphi, whoever she really was and however she happened to be related to Salazar Slytherin, truly did belong in Ravenclaw after all.


	11. Chapter 11

**PART 3, ACT 1**

_Blackbird, blackbird singing the blues all day _

_Right outside of my door _

_Blackbird, blackbird why do you sit and say _

_There's no sunshine in store _

_..._

_No one here can love and understand me _

_Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me _

_Make my bed and light the light _

_I'll arrive late tonight _

_Blackbird, bye bye_

\- Gene Austin, "Bye Bye Blackbird", arguably the most popular song of 1926. (31st December 1926 is Tom Riddle's birthday)

Severus and Delphi decided to stay the night at Spinner's End in order to conserve their energy for what appeared to be the final phase in Delphi's plan. Although, frustratingly for Severus, Delphi was suitably vague as to what that might entail. As the night wore on, she became uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn, and Severus' attempt to ask her what was wrong or what their next steps would be led to nothing more than a sad shake of the head and so he left her alone to her thoughts as he browsed through his extensive book collection for something to read.

"What do you think happens when you die?" Delphi asked eventually as she lay on the threadbare couch morosely staring at the ceiling.

Severus put down his book and considered this for a moment. "Nothing," he replied. "I don't believe there's an afterlife."

"That's not what I meant." Delphi swung her legs around and pulled herself upright to face Severus, her dark eyes shining. "I mean, _whilst you're actually dying_. People always say that your life flashes before your eyes, that you get to see all the highlights and special memories. But what if you see all the shit bits instead? All the mistakes and regrets, all the embarrassing moments and things you wished you could change." She bit her lip, trying to contain the emotion that was threatening to spill over.

Severus frowned. "I hardly see why it would matter. Death would be a sweet release from the torment if that were the case. Why are you so concerned?"

Delphi took a deep breath. "I'm scared of dying. I didn't think I was, but now we're getting to the crunch it turns out I am."

The frown on Severus' face softened. "You're not going to die."

"I wish I could believe you, I really do. But there's a high chance that I will." Her dark eyes filled with sorrow.

Severus looked at the young woman in front of him, a pale shadow of the confident and cocky young woman he had come to know. What on Earth could have made her so depressed?

"Why do you say that?" he answered in a low voice.

She sighed. "It's to do with my timeline. When You-Know-Who dies, I will probably die with him."

Severus was silent for a beat as he took this in. "There's only one way that could be possible," he said slowly, his eyes not betraying the shocked swoop of realisation that was flooding through his stomach.

"I'm his daughter," Delphi burst out, finally admitting the truth. "I'm the daughter of that monster and the crazy bitch Bellatrix Lestrange. Please don't hate me for something I can't control."

Severus had no words. Of all the possible relations to Salazar Slytherin that Severus had considered, daughter wasn't even on the list. The Dark Lord, capable of producing a child? He supposed a child was one of the most permanent sorts of legacy and a form of eternal life that he craved so dearly, but it seemed at odds with everything he'd assumed about his former master. But then again, Severus knew all too well that a child could be born into this world without a shred of love, as proved by his own upbringing. And Bellatrix Lestrange, a mother? He winced at the unwelcome thought of the union between the terrible two. How did it happen, and more to the point, when? He wondered just what kind of upbringing Delphi could have had, and how given her circumstances that she could have turned out to be so relatively normal and... _good_.

Delphi took Severus' shocked silence to be one of disapproval and she could not stop the tears from falling, her hands covering her face in embarrassment.

Severus crossed the room and sat stiffly beside the upset young witch, unsure of how to comfort her. "Don't cry," he said quietly after a moment. "I'm not going to let you die."

Delphi gasped for breath through her sobs and wiped her eyes with her hands, smudging her eyeliner across her pretty face. "Y-you don't hate me?"

"Of course not. Actually, I'm impressed that two of the most evil people on Earth managed to produce such a brave and brilliant child." _And beautiful too_, he thought.

Delphi sobbed in disbelief. "I shouldn't have been born at all. I'm an abomination, and it was my plan all along to annihilate us both at the same time, but I'm scared Severus. I'm really scared." Her big dark eyes were full of sadness and showed the vulnerability he'd rarely seen.

Severus gently but firmly grabbed her shoulder and looked carefully into her eyes. "You're not an abomination. You are living proof that it's your own actions that define you as a person, not that of your parents. You're trying to do a good thing and save people's lives. You're a good person. You don't deserve to die. You deserve to live."

Delphi clung to Severus then, burying her head into his chest, and Severus awkwardly put an arm around her.

"You're not going to die," he repeated through a mouthful of silver-blue hair.

Delphi pulled back a little, black eyes meeting black. "How do you know?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Severus stared at her like he was expecting an answer from a particularly slow student. "Think of what you've achieved."

It took a moment for clarity to descend, and then he saw her eyes light up with a flash of inspiration.

"The _Fauxcruxes_!"

"Five points to Ravenclaw," Severus drawled, and the sound of Delphi laughing as she dried her tears was like sweet music to his ears.


	12. Chapter 12

**PART 3: ACT 2**

After drying her eyes, Delphi caught sight of herself in the tarnished round convex mirror hung above the mantelpiece and grimaced at the smudged eyeliner smeared down her face.

"Urgh. I look like a banshee!"

One wave of her hand was all it took to reset her make-up back to flawless. She pouted and tousled her hair as Severus watched her, secretly amused and relieved that her depression had lifted and she had become her normal, quirky self.

"We need to work out how to get our hands on the _Fauxcruxes_," he told her as she flopped cross-legged on the floor in front of him. "Do you know where they are located?"

"I know where they are, but here's the thing: from what I've read about them I don't think we'll be able to get them all." She didn't sound upset by this, just matter-of-fact.

Severus watched the young witch carefully. "That might not be an issue. Tell me what you know."

"Where to start?" She gave a long exhale before continuing. "Let's begin with Salazar Slytherin's locket. Daddy dearest took extra special care of that one, as you can imagine. Family pride and all that. He kept it hidden in a cave protected by an army of Inferi and a potion that sent the drinker mad. But Regulus Black did a switcheroo with a fake one at some point so the real one's whereabouts was unknown for a long time. It ended up being stolen and trading hands, all very complicated. I think we need to write that one off, in all honesty."

Severus nodded. It seemed like a wild goose chase to track that one down if there were better options to pursue.

"Next up: The ring and the Resurrection Stone. Now this one would be easy to find as it's at my mad ancestor's familial home BUT the ring is cursed. Dumbledore got into all kinds of trouble with it and because of that it's extremely dangerous. So I think we need to write that off, too."

Severus was once again struck by just what lengths the Dark Lord had gone to in order to protect his Horcruxes, and agreed that the cursed ring was probably off limits. Part of him was curious to find out exactly what trouble Dumbledore had got himself into, but that was a story for another time. "Please continue," he encouraged, interested in what was to come.

"So then there's Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Daddy kept this one close to his heart, or should I say, close to my batshit mother's heart." She let out a bark of a laugh. "He kept this one in Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts. Now, as I unfortunately have her batshit DNA running through my veins, we could probably concoct some hair-brained plan involving Polyjuice Potion to break into Gringotts but to be honest that all seems like rather a lot of effort with huge margins for error. Which leaves us with Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."

Delphi's dark eyes glimmered and she couldn't stop the smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"You'll never guess where that one is!"

"Go on," Severus replied, not daring to hope it was within their reach.

"You'll die when I tell you!" Delphi was practically levitating with excitement.

"You'll die if you DON'T tell me," Severus growled, losing patience. "Spit it out!"

Delphi laughed at Severus' empty threat, her tinkling melodic giggles easily washing over his annoyance. "It's at Hogwarts!"

Severus stared at her as he considered this, mentally running through in his mind any possible locations he could think of and eventually drawing a blank. "Where at Hogwarts?" he asked after a few moments.

"It's in a hidden room, called the Room of Requirement."

Judging by the look on Severus' face, the name did not ring a bell. "And where would one find this room, precisely?"

"It's on one of the top floors, I think. You can only enter it if you have a real need of it. You have to walk backwards and forwards along the corridor in front of it thinking hard about what you need, and then the door appears."

Severus looked dubious. "Are you quite sure of the existence of this room? It sounds a little too convenient to me."

"Honestly. The room ended up being a really important place during the Battle of Hogwarts. But the room adapts to what you need it to be. So if you needed the toilet, I am sure it would turn into a toilet. But if you need it to show you where daddy stored his shit, it will turn into that room. I think it's about being really specific with what you request from the room when you try and find it."

Severus stood and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Delphi asked, scrabbling to get up off the floor.

"There's no time like the present," Severus replied, shrugging on his cloak. "I'm going to find this mythical room of yours."

"Wait!" Delphi called as Severus strode into the hall. "You can't just charge off like that! You have to remember WHEN we are."

Severus stopped and turned to face Delphi as she followed him through into the narrow corridor., her faded black denim jacket slung over an arm.

"Right now, it's just after you started teaching at Hogwarts, September 1981, which means there's a risk that you might run into your past self OR that someone might see you. It would be safer if you went back in a school holiday or over the summer when there's less people around. Which means I'll need to come with you." She shook the Golden Time-Turner at Severus, who noted that she also had the original one around her neck too.

Severus clearly wasn't happy about Delphi coming with him, but he had to concede she was right.

"We'll Apparate to the perimeter and then travel back in time, just like before," she said, pulling on her jacket.

Severus looked Delphi up and down. "Aren't you going to change into school uniform?" he asked.

"Nah. That was just for show," she said airily, striding past him towards the door. "This time, I'll just hide in a bush. Much safer."

Severus shook his head disbelievingly at his exasperating yet brilliant companion, who grinned impishly as she opened the door for him.

"After you, Professor," she purred in her Marlene Dietrich voice, and then scampered outside after him into the night.


	13. Chapter 13

**PART 3: ACT 3**

Delphi had found the perfect spot to hide Disillusioned in some shrubs on the perimeter of Hogwarts. They had travelled forwards to Autumn half-term 1981, just a few short weeks before her plan was to be resolved. It was a damp and drizzly night, and so Severus had cast a surprisingly thoughtful Umbrella Spell for Delphi whilst she waited for him to retrieve the diadem.

"Remember, you have to be really specific about what you need from the room," she had told him as he drew the hood of his cloak over his head.

"Understood," he replied. "I will be as swift as I can."

And with that, he made his way over the uneven earth and into the Hogwarts grounds.

o0o

It took well over ten minutes for Severus, who walked briskly, to reach the upper floors of Hogwarts. Ever logical, he reasoned to start on the seventh floor and work his way around and down in order to cover all the area thoroughly.

The corridors were dark and deserted and all that could be heard was the rain tapping on the lead-lined windows and the gentle snoring of portraits which lined the walls. He made his way carefully by wand light, silently as a cat.

He began near Flitwick's empty office, pacing and thinking hard, but nothing happened. He moved on to the corridor with the portrait of Sir Cadogan, but again that was fruitless. The corridor near the Fat Lady and the approach to the Headmaster's office both revealed nothing, either. He made his way to a corridor which held a large thick tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet. Once again, he walked back and forth, focusing on his need to find the hidden object. This time, there was a low rumble as a door appeared in the wall and Severus could not believe his luck. Resolutely he turned the door handle and entered the room.

To his surprise, the room was absolutely massive; the size of a large cathedral, with high windows being battered by the rain outside. It was lit by chandeliers dotted with hundreds of candles, lending the room a soft glow. The overall impression was of a city with towering walls, walls made apparently of things hidden by generations of Hogwarts inhabitants as far as the eye could see. Broken and damaged furniture jostled against various columns of books, piled high with innumerable objects such as toys, jewels, potion bottles, weapons, stuffed animals, bent cages and dusty old trunks. If the diadem was in here, it would take forever to find it using conventional methods.

Luckily for Severus, there were a few spells that could assist his search but he paused to consider his options. Delphi had insisted the diadem would be safe to touch, now being a _Fauxcrux_ rather than a Horcrux, but Severus did not want to take any chances. He found a small rickety wooden chest with the lock hanging off and cast a few charms on it to reveal any hidden jinxes or curses. To all intents and purposes the chest was just a normal, broken chest and would serve well as a holding receptacle.

"_Accio _Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem," he said firmly, and almost straight away he heard a rustling sound coming from a pile of clutter to his far right. He watched as the diadem wriggled it's way from the jumble and then come zooming towards him. Skilfully, Severus stopped the diadem in mid-air with his wand, turning it over and examining it closely. It was dusty and slightly tarnished, yet still a beautiful object. It had a large blue sapphire shaped like an oval in the centre of the delicate filigree. He could just about make out the etching of Ravenclaw's motto along the band, "_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."_ There was no doubting this was the real object. There was no way of knowing, however, if Delphi's plan had worked or not and if this was still a Horcrux.

Carefully, he lowered the diadem into the old wooden chest with magic and closed the lid. He picked his way carefully back to the door and out into the seventh-floor corridor. No sooner had he exited, the door faded away leaving a solid brick wall behind.

Hiding the chest under his cloak with one hand and with his illuminated wand in the other, Severus made his way back out of the castle, thinking about Delphi. It was definitely a shock, finding out about her parentage, but it explained why she felt so familiar. Those keen dark eyes with long, thick eyelashes and perfect pale skin, and the little purse of her lips when something amused her; all signs of her Black heritage, yet in terms of personality she couldn't be more different to her mother. Bellatrix had always disliked him, and the feeling was entirely mutual. Whether it was due to his poor upbringing, her petty jealousy around his usefulness to the Dark Lord, or her uncanny ability not to fully trust him, Bellatrix had always made it clear that she thought he was undeserving of the Dark Lord's attention. How would she feel, then, if she discovered her daughter acting flirtatiously with him and their unconventional relationship together?

Severus paused at the front door of the old castle as he examined his feelings around Delphi's behaviour. Was she really attracted to him, or was she toying with him like a cat with a mouse, stretching her feminine wiles to manipulate him? No woman had ever been so brazen with him as Delphi was, not even the two Sickle whores in Knockturn Alley that he would curtly rebuff if he'd ever had the misfortune to accidentally cross their paths. Severus would be lying if he said he did not find Delphi attractive. Her fine bone structure, those red lips and that lithe body had not escaped his notice. But more than that, she was not afraid of him, and that was an experience he was not used to. She was fearless yet vulnerable, intelligent but reckless, sweet but salty. She was attractive to him on many levels. But although Severus was certain her motives regarding taking down her father were true, the same could not be said about her intentions towards him.

It had been well over an hour by the time Severus returned to the shrub where Delphi had been hiding.

"Did you get it?" she asked excitedly.

Severus wordlessly showed her the inside of the tatty wooden chest and watched her eyes grow wide.

"Wow. It's even more beautiful than I imagined." She grinned up at him, her face full of gratitude. "Now what?"

Severus snapped the chest lid shut. "Now we work out what to do with it."


	14. Chapter 14

**PART 3: ACT 4**

"Thank you for getting this for me. That's at least two favours I owe you now."

Delphi turned the diadem over in her hands as she spoke, watching the candlelight glinting off the large oval sapphire. They had returned to Spinner's End, carefully timed to re-enter the cottage just a minute after they had set off to Hogwarts to find the diadem.

_At least two favours indeed_, Severus thought, not unkindly. From the moment she had appeared at his door it had been nothing but dangerous adventure, from stealing from the Malfoys to confronting the Beast of Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets. In truth, it felt good to put his magical abilities to a grander purpose than teaching dunderheads how not to blow up their cauldrons, and to his mind there could be no grander purpose than plotting to destroy the Dark Lord. He tried to ignore the part of him that felt good about helping a damsel in distress, even though it was perfectly clear that this damsel could take care of herself.

"You're quite sure it's no longer a Horcrux?" he asked, not entirely comfortable with her handling the diadem.

"As sure as I can be." She buffed one side of the tarnished silver with the pulled-up sleeve of her denim jacket. "No genies are coming out, anyway." She grinned.

"I have had some thoughts on our next steps," he said, watching her continuing to carefully clean the diadem.

"You have a plan?" Delphi stopped mid-rub.

"You mentioned that these _Fauxcruxes _could be dormant Philosopher's Stones, just waiting for the right spell. There is only one person to date that knows the spell to create the Philosopher's Stone, and that person is Nicholas Flamel. I propose that we find Flamel, and we get the spell. Once you have turned the _Fauxcrux_ into a Philosopher's Stone, it will be safe for you to confront the Dark Lord as you will be unable to die if you have it in your possession."

Delphi looked at Severus as if seeing him for the first time. "Wow. You really don't want me to die, do you?"

"I promised you I would not let you die," he answered quietly, skilfully deflecting the question and feeling somewhat sheepish for suggesting what was obviously a daring and outlandish plan, even by Delphi's standards.

Delphi smiled with true gratitude and warmth, but there was a tinge of sadness underneath it. "I'm really grateful you've got my back, Severus. I don't want to piss on your chips here, but I don't think Nicholas Flamel will give his closely-guarded secrets up without severe coercion. I'm not here to hurt anyone, especially not to save myself. And currently we are the only people who know about the _Fauxcruxes_ and our plan. I would prefer to keep it that way. The more people who know, the messier it gets and the more people's timelines are interrupted. There's more chances of things going wrong."

Severus considered this. "I see your point. But perhaps we could steal the actual Philosopher's Stone from Flamel instead." At this, his eyes flashed with inspiration. "Of course, how did I not think of it before?" He rose from his chair, suddenly animated. "The Philosopher's Stone was hidden at Hogwarts in 1992. I will be able to retrieve it from there!"

Delphi smiled ruefully. "The Philosopher's Stone was hidden at Hogwarts in the _old_ timeline, when daddy dearest was clinging on to life because of his Horcruxes. They hid it at Hogwarts to keep it away from him. In _this_ timeline, he doesn't have Horcruxes so there will be no need to hide the stone at Hogwarts. Because if all goes to plan, he's going to die in a few weeks from now."

Severus cursed and scowled in frustration. "How on Earth do you manage to keep track of everything," he growled. "It's giving me a headache."

"It takes practice," she replied gently. "And lots of notes." She fished inside her denim jacket and held up a tatty pocket notebook which seemed to be full of small, tightly-packed scrawly handwriting. "There's no magic to that, I'm afraid."

Severus paced up and down, his face now set in concentration. "So what's the alternative? We find out where the Philosopher's Stone was kept by Flamel up to 1981 and then steal it?"

Delphi sighed. "It was probably kept in Gringotts and the chances of us being able to steal it from there, despite our bountiful supply of intelligence and wit, is pretty slim I'm reckoning."

Severus had to concede she was probably right on that point, but it was maddening to come so close to a solution and not be able to act on it. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked wearily.

"As it happens, I do," she replied quietly. "I am going to attempt to add the time stored in the _Fauxcrux _to my own timeline, just like I showed you before. So I will have extra time added to my timeline, which means that due to a technicality there's a possibility I would stay alive if I confront You-Know-Who. I'd literally be living on borrowed time."

Severus blinked. Of course, that was the most simple and straightforward plan, but it didn't seem particularly robust, permanent or without risk. "Is that safe?" he wondered.

"In all honesty, I don't know. It _should_ be safe, as it's merely moving time from one receptacle to another, like how Time-Turners are created. The only thing is, I'm a human receptacle rather than an object, and the time belongs to my father. That could cause problems I guess." She tried to sound breezy, but she wasn't fooling Severus.

"What kind of problems?" he asked suspiciously.

"I can't say for sure. Rips in the space-time continuum. A mini black hole. My instant annihilation. They're the worst case scenarios, really. But if it works it'll be amazing." She flashed a dazzling smile.

Severus glared at Delphi like she was stark raving mad. His plan may have been outlandish but at least it came with a cast-iron guarantee of staying alive and not destroying the entire universe!

"And this is your idea of a safer plan?" he scoffed.

Delphi's smile faltered as she carefully set the diadem down and put her head in her hands.

"I can't explain it, Severus. I know there are major risks to trying this, but I just have a really strong feeling that this is the right thing to do." She looked up at the dark wizard with pleading eyes. "I know you are trying to help and believe me, you have been brilliant. None of this could have happened without you. But this last bit is something I need to do by myself, do you know what I mean?"

Severus remained unmoved. He'd sworn to protect Delphi, that he wouldn't let her die, and from where he was sitting it looked like suicide.

Delphi rose from the sofa and took a step towards him. "Severus, please. You've trusted me before, and I need you to trust me again. Will you promise me you'll trust me, no matter what happens?"

He exhaled loudly, battling with himself. The woman was exasperating, but he had to admit she hadn't put a foot wrong so far, although whether that was more luck than judgement he could not say. That said, it was her life and her plan. He grudgingly agreed she needed to be the mistress of her own destiny.

"I trust you," he ground out, trying to push down the feeling of panic welling inside him.

She smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."


	15. Chapter 15

**PART 3: ACT 5**

Delphi and Severus Apparated together to the graveyard in Godric's Hollow by cover of darkness, both clad in long black hooded robes. The small secluded graveyard was surrounded by bushes and shrubs, providing much-needed cover. The air was silent apart from the gentle rustling of the breeze in the huge old sycamore trees overhead. They hurried behind a large crumbling grave covered in moss and lichen to be sure they would not be seen.

"Well, this is it," Delphi said, pulling out the diadem from her robes and sliding it on her head underneath her hood. "The last stop before we travel to Halloween 1981."

"Are you quite sure you want to do this?" Severus asked, still troubled by the myriad possibilities of things that could go wrong and not entirely sure of what Delphi had in mind. Halloween 1981 was the night when his worst nightmare had come true, and whilst he knew Delphi had planned on saving Lily, he feared that she could not guarantee her own safety, let alone Lily's. Still, he had said he would trust her, despite his nagging feeling to the contrary.

Delphi nodded. "This is the way it needs to be."

Severus looked at the diadem resting on her head. "Aren't you going to cast the spell on the_ Fauxcrux_ now?"

"Nope," she replied mysteriously. "I've got a plan."

She carefully wrapped the long thin chain of the Golden Time-Turner around them both and then looked up at Severus, her dark eyes shining in the dim light.

"Kiss me for luck," she whispered, reaching up and claiming his mouth before he had time to protest. This time, Severus did not avert his head although he stood stock-still, and he let her leave a lingering kiss on his lips which tingled slightly as she drew away after a few seconds, her breathing shallow.

"You're a sexy fucker, you know that?" She cleared her throat and straightened her robes whilst Severus looked like he'd been hit with a Stunner for a few moments before gathering his composure.

"Are you ready?" she asked lightly, cradling the encased hourglass in her palm. The blue light from the sands of the Time-Turner glowed softly on her pale face.

Severus drew his wand. "I'm ready."

And with that, Delphi frantically wound the crown, muttering calculations to herself as the world and time itself distorted around them.

o0o

They appeared with a pop on a wet and squally night, slimy leaves clinging to the bottom of the rows of the jagged tombstones like tartar to edge of teeth. Pulling their hoods down over their faces against the weather, they made their way out through the crooked wooden kissing gate and in to the village square. Two children dressed as pumpkins waddled ahead of them, struggling against the wind, their plastic buckets filled with sweet treats. Delphi and Severus hung back in the shadows and waited for them to disappear down a side street.

They passed shop windows covered in cut-out paper spiders and thick stringy cobwebs, Severus leading the way across the quaint village square and towards the point where the cottages ended and the lane turned into open country again. They walked as quickly as they dared, the odd house along the way displaying a fat pumpkin in the window lit with a single flickering candle.

"I'll draw him out in the open and you can hide in the garden and make sure the Potters stay put and don't try to interfere," Delphi muttered.

She waited for a response, but Severus was not paying attention. He was looking towards the bush-lined cottage that stood at the very end of the row of houses, seemingly lost in his thoughts as his pace slowed to a stop. It did not take Legilimency for Delphi to realise that this cottage was the Potter's home.

_Lily is in there right now_, he thought, looking at one of the illuminated windows. _She's in there and she's alive. _A swell of guilt and regret rose up inside him unbidden.

"Come on," Delphi said gently, touching his arm as if reading his thoughts. "It's your job to keep her safe and out of trouble."

Severus closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. Delphi was right, of course. Now was not the time for being sentimental. He needed to focus.

"How much time do we have?" he asked quietly as they approached the Potter's cottage.

"Not long," she replied. "He should be here any moment. You should go and hide."

They looked at each other awkwardly, suddenly not knowing what to say. Everything depended on this moment, and yet the odds were stacked against them. Both of them quashed the impending feeling that this moment had the potential to be a goodbye.

"Good luck," Severus said stiffly.

"And don't fuck it up," Delphi answered in an American accent, breaking into a melodic giggle as Severus frowned back in confusion.

But Delphi's humour was short-lived as the sound of a tell-tale crack of Apparition ripped through the quiet streets like a firework, and at last it was time to face the music.


	16. Chapter 16

**PART 3: ACT 6**

Severus slipped inside the Potter's garden with the grace of cat, positioning himself carefully near a hole in the hedge so he had a clear view of the street whilst being able to see the front windows and door of the Potter's cottage. His knuckles were white as he gripped his wand tightly, on high alert and ready for action. The rain began to beat down, as if the sky was crying for what was to come.

Delphi, meanwhile, had disappeared into a dark doorway opposite, waiting for her chance to confront her father. She did not have to wait long; after a minute, the unmistakable sound of boots walking briskly on the damp pavement echoed up the empty street and a tall, ominous figure clad in a black appeared, pausing in front of the Potter's home.

It took all of Severus' willpower not to send a Killing Curse at his former master; he had a direct line of sight and would not miss. Yet he stayed put, trying to moderate his breathing and remembering his promise to Delphi, clenching and unclenching his fist with nerves.

Delphi appeared from the shadows behind Voldemort, her hood obscuring her face, and she dropped to one knee with her head bowed and said, "My Lord, I have come to warn you."

Every hair went up on the back of Severus' neck, for the voice that came out of Delphi's mouth sounded identical to her mother, Bellatrix Lestrange. What on Earth was she doing? She had begged him to trust her, no matter what, but that was getting more difficult with each passing second.

Voldemort turned around sharply. "Bellatrix? What brings you here?"

He had no reason to be suspicious at this point, Delphi knew. Why would he? Bellatrix had prided herself on being his most loyal servant, after all. She remained perfectly still with her head lowered, letting rivulets of water run down her hood and splash on the floor in front of her before replying. "My Lord, your life is in great danger. I have heard that you have been betrayed by one of your own."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "And who might that be?"

Severus' heart seemed to stop in his chest. Had he been a fool to trust Delphi after all? Was this the point where his instincts were proved right? Was she about to turn on him, and gang up with her father? His hand flexed on his wand in anticipation in the agonising pause before Delphi spoke again.

"YOUR DAUGHTER!" she cried fiercely, springing up from the ground and removing her hood in one fluid motion, hanging in the air with her arms spread wide, her wand pointing at her father. "EXPELLIARMUS!"

Voldemort was so shocked that he did not have time to save his wand, which sailed out of his hand in an arc and landed at Severus' feet with a clatter. Severus picked up the wand, shuddering at the bone-like texture and the way the handle curved around his palm.

Voldemort assessed the young woman hovering in front of him, snarling, "You think I need a wand to defeat you, girl?"

Delphi laughed, then. "None of your magic can save you now, _Daddy_." And with that, she held her wand up to her head, aiming at the side of the diadem whilst chanting under her breath. After a moment, the diadem began to glow and tiny particles of blue swam up into the air around her head, giving the impression of an eerie sort of halo.

Voldemort, enraged on seeing the diadem on Delphi's head, bared his teeth and raised his hands to cast a wandless Killing Curse. His hooked fingers were ready to strike, but then he faltered as he noticed his hands were also becoming luminous and tiny particles of blue began emerging from them.

"What is this?" Voldemort growled, looking confused and turning his hands over as more and more particles began flooding out. Now his vision began to blur as the blue specks came pouring from all over his head and face, growing brighter and brighter.

With his arms flailing, Voldemort tried to cast a spell but nothing happened. He yelled in frustration and tried again, but still nothing happened, all the while he was shedding blue motes like a snake shedding its skin. The flecks began to swirl upwards, as if compelled to join the particles from the diadem. As soon as the particles from his body reached the halo of blue surrounding Delphi there was a bright flash of light and a dome of pure energy surrounded the two of them like a cage.

"You're killing yourself!" Delphi managed to call out, and her wand began to shake violently. Gasping with the effort of holding on to her wand, casting the spell and remaining airborne at the same time, she didn't know how long she could keep it up, but on seeing Voldemort's skin begin to turn translucent beneath her she stiffened her resolve and pushed on.

"Impossible!" Voldemort roared, sinking to ground, his powers fading by the second as the life ebbed out of him and he became as see-through as a ghost. The halo surrounding Delphi was now a few feet wide, pulsing vivid blue, her robes flapping wildly around her like great black wings.

With one last burst of effort, Delphi yanked her wand away from the diadem and the halo became a vortex, spinning around her before clinging to every part of her, lighting her up like a Christmas Tree fairy. The Time-Turners on her chest began to vibrate and crack, and the sands of time leaked out and joined the frenzied particles surrounding her. Then, with another bright flash, the specks began forcing their way inside Delphi and she moaned in agony, thousands of tiny points of time invading her body. Her cry was like that of an Augurey; a long, drawn out mournful tone that reverberated around the street.

Voldemort's screams mixed with Delphi's, as he watched the last seconds of his time on Earth trickle away from him and he finally disintegrated into thin air.

At the same time Delphi, held aloft now by the force of the energy field, absorbed all of the remaining time particles within her and Severus had to shield his eyes from the brightness. And then suddenly the cage vanished, the screaming stopped and darkness replaced light as she fell to the floor like a rag doll, seemingly lifeless and unmoving.


	17. Chapter 17

**PART 4: ACT 1**

_Why am I so starry eyed_  
_Starry eyed and mystified_  
_Every time I look at you_  
_Falling stars come into view_

_Can it be that I'm in love_  
_With an angel from above_  
_I asked my heart my heart replied_  
_Yes that's just why your so starry eyed_

_When we touch I hear angles sing_  
_When we kiss I hear wedding bells ring_  
_Can't explain what I feel inside_  
_But I know it's love_  
_True love at last_  
_I know why I'm starry eyed_  
_Starry eyed and mystified_  
_All my dreams are coming true_  
_Just because I'm so in love with you_

\- Michael Holliday, "Starry Eyed" UK Number 1 on 30th January 1960 (Lily Potter's birthday)

Severus rushed out into the lane and crouched over Delphi's still body, his heart hammering in his chest. Was she dead? Did she mean to kill herself? He remembered that she'd said she had originally planned on mutual annihilation but if that was the case, surely she would have disappeared like the Dark Lord had, into nothingness. Something was keeping her here. Perhaps, then, there was a remote chance that she was still alive.

With shaking hands he gently turned her over and grimaced at the nasty graze on the side of her head, which looked bloody and sore. Miraculously, she was still wearing the diadem and it gave her the surreal appearance of a sleeping princess. He found the pulse point on her neck but everything was sodden and slippery from the rain and blood, and it was difficult to feel signs of life. Frustrated, he bent his ear close to Delphi's mouth in order to check for signs of breathing. To his enormous relief, he felt a faint warm tickle. She was alive! But what now? She needed medical attention and Apparating might be too dangerous in her current state.

He glanced up at the Potter's cottage through the relentless rain. A light had come on downstairs; they had obviously been disturbed by the noises outside. The last thing he wanted to do was see Lily like this, and as for James, he would happily throw the Killing Curse at him that the Dark Lord had failed to do. But he had no choice. Delphi needed urgent attention and the one person who was brilliant at healing potions was currently only a few feet away from him. Cursing, he swept Delphi up in his arms and carried her up the path to the front door.

He rapped three times and it didn't take long for James to rip open the door, wand in hand. His concerned expression turned into a snarl of disgust at Severus' sodden frame and he jabbed the wand threateningly in his direction.

"Snivellus! What the hell are you doing here?! Get away from our home!"

Severus' black eyes glowed with the ferocity of years of unbridled hatred, yet his voice remained steely calm when he spoke. "I need to see Lily."

"I don't think so," James scoffed, now revolted by the injured woman he was holding and about to shut the door on Severus, when suddenly Lily jostled in front of him clutching baby Harry.

"Severus?" Lily took in her former friend's cowed expression. She stole a glance at Delphi's pale, bleeding face and then her green eyes flicked back to Severus. "What's going on?"

"It's a trap," crowed James immediately. "The Fidelius Charm has been broken! You-Know-Who is out there somewhere waiting to kill us! We need to go!" He want to shut the door again on Severus but Lily stopped him.

"James! I want to hear what Severus has to say."

The sound of Lily calling him by his name after so many years was nearly the undoing of him, likewise the sight of those beautiful green eyes. He had to keep it together for Delphi, he reminded himself.

"The Dark Lord came here tonight to kill you all, but he was vanquished by this woman." He looked down at Delphi. "The screaming you heard was his annihilation. As you can see, she has a head injury from the fight and needs medical attention."

"Nonsense!" said James. "Why should we believe a word that comes out of your mouth, Death Eater?"

It was a good job Severus was holding Delphi, otherwise he would have smacked James right in his smug face.

"I am no longer a Death Eater," Severus ground out through gritted teeth. "The Dark Lord is dead."

"Who is she?" Lily asked gently, scanning Delphi's face to try to place her and coming up blank.

"It's a long story that we don't have time for right now. She needs your help urgently. Please, Lily?"

Severus locked eyes with Lily and his voice cracked as he said her name. He hated himself in that moment for being so vulnerable, for begging her for help when he had absolutely no right to, especially in front of her cocky husband. It was humiliating in the extreme. He was taking a gamble on her kindness, banking on her ingrained desire to help people in need. He could only hope that the gamble had paid off.

Lily glanced again at the woman in Severus' arms before handing baby Harry to James with a small sigh.

"Come on through," she told Severus as James looked on in horror.

"Lily, you can't be serious?" James pulled his face away from baby Harry, who was trying to grab his glasses. "You're letting a Death Eater into our home! He probably tortured Peter to find out where we were!"

"Wormtail betrayed you by choice," Severus hissed in a low voice that only James could hear, drawing himself up to his full height, their faces barely inches away from each other. "He was the Death Eater you should have been afraid of, not me."

And with that, Severus pushed past a bewildered-looking James and followed Lily through to the lounge, all the while cradling Delphi as carefully as a newborn baby.


	18. Chapter 18

**PART 4: ACT 2**

"Lily, think what you're doing! This could put us all at risk!"

James was still voicing his protestations as Lily Transfigured their squashy sofa into a makeshift bed, with baby Harry squirming in his arms looking restless and agitated.

Lily didn't answer her husband immediately, instead watching Severus lay the injured woman down on the bed with a tenderness she had rarely seen from him. If she'd had any doubts before regarding Severus posing a threat to her family, then they had now all completely diminished. It was clear that the welfare of this woman, whoever she was, was his only priority.

"James, could you please put Harry to bed?" she said lightly. "I don't want him seeing blood everywhere."

It was obvious James was not happy about this but he wasn't going to win this argument; his wife had made up her mind to help her former friend and he had been left, literally, holding the baby. The conversation was now over. He left the room with a frustrated sigh, leaving Lily and Severus alone with the patient.

"I'll get the Essence of Dittany, you dry yourselves off," Lily said matter-of-factly. "You're both absolutely sodden."

Severus silently did as he was told, casting drying spells on himself and Delphi whilst Lily returned with the potion. She carefully applied the Dittany to Delphi's forehead using a dropper. Small wisps of green smoke billowed upward from Delphi's head as the potion began to take effect almost immediately, the damaged and bloody skin knitting together and regrowing over the wound, leaving her skin looking smooth and healed.

"How did she get hurt?" Lily asked as she screwed the lid back on the bottle of Dittany.

"She fell from a height of around six feet, which caused the head injury," Severus replied. "However, I don't know if that also caused her to become unconscious or if that was the result of the magic she performed."

"What magic did she use to defeat... _him_?" Lily couldn't bring herself to say his name, even if he was now supposedly dead.

Severus let his hands fall to his sides. "In all honesty, I don't know. It's no magic I've ever seen before. It may have backfired on her. There's no saying what long-lasting effects it could have had."

Outwardly, he looked habitually stern and stoic, but even after all these years Lily knew him too well and could see by the way that he glanced at the woman that he cared for this mysterious witch.

"Take a seat," she said gently. "I'll get some tea. We might be in for a long night."

o0o

Severus and Lily finished their tea together in a silence that carried many unspoken words. Severus knew he had much to apologise for and much to explain, but there had been too much water under the bridge and he didn't even know where to start. In truth he found it confusing, being in the same room as the woman he'd loved for so long and a woman who, if he were honest with himself, he was beginning to develop burgeoning feelings for. He was beyond grateful that Delphi had saved Lily's life, and at the same time terrified that she had harmed herself irrevocably in the process.

"Who is she?" Lily asked quietly, as if reading his mind.

"She needs to be the one to tell you that," he said carefully. "But her name is Delphi."

"Delphi," Lily repeated, rolling the word on her tongue as if tasting a new, exotic kind of food. "Unusual name."

"She's an unusual witch," he answered awkwardly.

As if on cue, Delphi moaned and began stirring. Severus put his tea cup down with a rattle and stood up as Lily crouched beside her, watching her eyelids eventually flutter open.

"Where am I?" Delphi groaned thickly, squinting and trying to get her bearings. Her eyes flicked from Lily to Severus, and she grinned broadly when she saw his face.

"You're safe here," Lily replied softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "How's your head?"

"Haven't had any complaints! Oof!" She laughed and then winced at the sudden movement.

Lily chuckled at Delphi's lewd joke and Delphi took the moment for her eyes to adjust in order to get a proper look at her.

"So _you're_ Lily Potter. I can see why you love her, Severus. She's a real doll."

Severus opened his eyes wide in an expression of horror whilst Lily, oblivious to elephant in the room, just looked puzzled.

"How do you know my name?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"You haven't told her?" Delphi said to Severus. "Urgh." She leaned back and closed her eyes momentarily. "Feel woozy," she finished weakly.

"Haven't told me what, exactly?" Lily looked at Severus pointedly.

"I told you, it's a long story. Do you have any Wideye Potion? I think she might be concussed."

Lily gave Severus the look that told him he was pushing his luck; the look that he had been on the receiving end many times in his life and the look that took him straight back to being a carefree eleven-year-old. Wordlessly, she retrieved the potion along with a glass of water without forcing the issue any further, leaving Severus feeling an enormous sense of relief that Delphi had come to and that Lily seemed to have somehow missed her confess his undying love.

Delphi gratefully drank down a few spoonfuls of the potion which did not take long to work it's magic. After a few moments, Delphi propped herself up on one arm and slugged down the glass of water in one go.

"Oh man, that feels better. I felt like I'd been trampled by a herd of Hippogriffs."

"I'm not surprised," Severus murmured.

"What happened, Delphi?" asked Lily, not unkindly, taking a seat beside her. "And, if you don't mind me asking, who are you and how do you know who I am?"

Delphi whistled. "Hoo, there's some big questions. Like Severus said, it's a long story. Better buckle up, Buckeroo. It's quite a ride!" Delphi laughed then, her melodic tinkly laugh, and despite everything Severus could not help but smirk with relief that she was back to her crazy, quirky self.


	19. Chapter 19

**PART 4: ACT 3**

James had slunk back into the room as Delphi began revealing her story. She told them about finding Severus in 1994 and needing his help to vanquish Voldemort, about Voldemort's Horcruxes and about the audacious plan with the _Fauxcruxes._ She also told them about how the Potter's futures _would _have played out had she not intervened; that their deaths were legendary in the wizarding world, that their orphaned son would have been the key to bringing Voldemort down and how a great battle would have been fought, with most of Hogwarts being destroyed in the process. During her tale she skilfully managed to avoid telling them her identity and to her relief they didn't seem to notice, being more preoccupied with more pressing things.

Lily tried hard to process what she was hearing, whilst James looked on cynically.

"Let me get this straight," Lily said, trying to piece the incredible story together. "You're both from the future, You-Know-Who would have killed us tonight and Harry would have been made into an accidental Horcrux because of that? And he would have lead the rebellion for the next war?"

Delphi nodded. "Broadly speaking. And I'm not here trying to take any glory away from your son. Let me tell you, you would have been astonished by what he did. He was a great kid, and he did beat You-Know-Who eventually. But all of you in this room had to die for that to happen, and more besides."

Severus, who to this point had been silently trading glares with James, suddenly took notice.

"I died?" he asked quietly. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't surprised by this. It was the most probable outcome given the dangerous tightrope between two masters he had been walking. But he had been so focused on Delphi saving Lily at this point that he hadn't considered that she may have actually saved his life in the process, too.

Delphi looked at Severus. "I'm sorry to tell you like this, Severus. But your death was the most tragic of all."

Across the room, James made a scoffing sound, and Delphi turned on him hotly. "You have absolutely no idea what Severus sacrificed to protect Harry! No idea at all!"

"Protect Harry?!" James asked incredulously. "Just how would a Death Eater protect my son?"

"For your information," Delphi answered sharply, "As soon as Severus discovered You-Know-Who was planning on killing you both he turned into a spy for the Order. And when he could not prevent your deaths, he made a pledge to look out for Harry. He put himself at risk time and again for your son. Harry would not have defeated You-Know-Who without his help. He was the bravest man in the whole war! You could be a bit more fucking grateful after the way you've treated him!"

James looked like he'd been slapped in the face, and Severus was somewhat taken back by Delphi's passionate tirade. He had resolved to look out for Harry, that much was true, but by 1994 the war against the rise of Voldemort had barely started. He found it hard to believe Delphi when she had called him the bravest man in the war. He didn't feel brave; he felt like a man who was condemned to atoning for the same mistake over and over. Lily, meanwhile, felt nothing but remorse and turned her astonished gaze to Severus.

"Sev? Is it true you swore to protect Harry?"

Severus gave the smallest of nods in response, his throat tight at being called his childhood nickname after all these years and feeling excruciatingly embarrassed at being defended by Delphi.

"But why?" Lily asked, genuinely puzzled. "Why would you risk your life like that for our son?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Delphi interjected before Severus could respond.

"Delphi," Severus said in a warning tone, not liking where this conversation was heading. She had already said too much and needed to shut her pretty mouth. "Don't."

"I'm sorry, Severus, but it's got to be said." Delphi turned back to Lily. "He loved you. He always had. Seeing you get together with James, the person who'd made his life a misery, was what broke him. That's why he turned on you that day at the lake. He was lashing out because he couldn't understand why you would chose a bully like James over him. He regretted losing you like that and relived that moment every day for the rest of his life. Protecting Harry was like a form of atonement, and a way of honouring his love for you."

Severus cast his eyes down at the floor, wishing the ground would swallow him up and silently cursing Delphi for knowing so much. His greatest secret was now out in the open, revealed by the woman he also had confused feelings for. James stared at Severus open-mouthed. Lily looked as though she'd remembered something she had forgotten a long time ago. It was James that spoke first.

"How touching," he spat at Severus, clearly rattled at discovering his depth of feeling for his wife before turning to Delphi. "But why on Earth should we believe a word you say? What proof do you actually have that You-Know-Who is dead?"

Now it was Severus' turn to interrupt. "If he wasn't dead, then how would we have this?" And with that, he pulled out Voldemort's wand from his pocket and passed it to James to examine.

James knew the wand, as did his wife. They had seen Voldemort use it first-hand, and saw what devastation it could cause. He winced as he felt the smooth, bone-like curve radiating with malevolent power, and dropped it like a hot potato next to him. Touching it, knowing what evil it had produced, made his skin crawl. As unlikely as it seemed, it appeared they were telling the truth about Voldemort's demise.

Severus scooped up the wand and returned it to his pocket as Delphi stood up.

"I think it's time for me to go," she began. "It was kind of you to patch me up, and I know what I've just told you is a lot to deal with. All I ever wanted was to stop the misery You-Know-Who caused. And now you can both have a nice, normal life with a nice, normal son with no megalomaniac dark lord getting the way."

"I'll come with you," Severus murmured, crossing the room.

Lily followed them both into the hall. "I don't know what to say," she said, looking from Severus to Delphi. "This is all so much. I don't even know who you are!"

"It's probably better that way," Delphi replied wryly.

Lily pondered on this for a moment, and realised she was probably right. "Thank you for saving our lives. Both of you." Her tone was sincere.

"Uh, you're welcome!" Delphi smiled brightly. "Listen, will you do me a favour? Will you please make amends with younger Severus in this timeline? It's important."

The older Severus raised his eyebrows at such a bold request, but Lily did something that he wasn't expecting.

"It seems like I need to make amends with future Severus, too." She turned to him. "I forgive you, Severus," she said, simply. "Do you forgive me?"

Severus' head shot up. In all his life, he'd never expected to hear those words from Lily, no matter how much his soul ached to hear them. "There is nothing to forgive."

The green eyes found the black, and she looked at him meaningfully. "Yes, there is."

In that moment, a flood of warmth spread through Severus' chest as he fully understood what she was doing. She was asking forgiveness for choosing James over him, and at the same time she was forgiving him for his worst mistake, the one that had driven her away from him. It was overwhelming, and he didn't know what to say.

"Lily," is all he managed to croak before Lily threw her arms around him and gave him a hug. His arms hung in the air awkwardly like a spider on its back before eventually folding them carefully around her.

Delphi watched them both with a gentle smile on her lips and with no sense of jealousy in her at all. She was just silently pleased that the final part of her plan had come to fruition and hoped that Severus now had the closure he needed to get on with the rest of his life.


	20. Chapter 20

**PART 4: ACT 4**

Delphi and Severus strolled together silently through the deserted streets of Godric's Hollow, heading back through the village towards the graveyard. The rain had stopped, the moon was struggling to peek through gaps in the clouds and it was perfectly quiet except for the splashing of their boots on the still-wet pavements. It seemed remarkable that, mere hours earlier, the greatest dark wizard of all time had been destroyed in this sleepy little place.

"Are you OK?" Delphi asked eventually. She knew Severus had a lot to think about, having found out that he had died as part of his efforts resisting Voldemort and having had his feelings for Lily laid out in the open so bluntly.

"Did you plan that little stunt the whole time?" he answered, looking at her askance. She was still wearing Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem and it made her look like a punk princess.

Delphi grinned as she put her hands in her pockets. "Well, yes and no. I figured if I survived confronting daddy dearest then visiting the Potters was next on the list."

Severus considered this. "Why? I thought defeating the Dark Lord was your primary motivation?"

"It was," Delphi conceded as they crossed the village square. "But I had the opportunity to make things right here so I took the chance. For the present you and for the Severus that lives in 1981. Let's call it a thank you for everything you've done to help me."

Severus didn't know what to say to that. It was probably the kindest thing anyone had ever done for him. Yes, he'd felt invaded that she knew so much about his personal life and initially angry that she'd had the nerve to tell Lily and James his deepest secret but ultimately, she had given him the one thing he'd ever wanted: forgiveness. And as she hadn't known if she was going to survive the showdown with the Dark Lord, for her to have even thought about doing that for him was magnanimous in the extreme. Which led him back to the thought that had been gnawing at him since she regained consciousness: what actually happened when she confronted the Dark Lord?

"How did you destroy him?" he asked. "And how are you still here?"

"Luck, I'm reckoning," she laughed. "My plan was to extract the time from the diadem at precisely the point when his time on Earth had run out. I was hoping this would cause a mad reaction in space-time and fuse his timeline to me. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to work," she added sheepishly.

Severus allowed Delphi to pass through the kissing gate that lead into the cemetery and followed her through.

"It looked like you performed some very powerful magic," he mused. "It reminded me of Priori Incantatem and yet it was like nothing I'd ever seen before."

Delphi shrugged modestly. "I had no idea what I was doing. I was acting on instinct, really. I just had the overwhelming sensation that told me what I needed to do. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut."

"So what does this mean for your timeline?" he asked, avoiding a massive puddle on the uneven cemetery path. "What happens now?"

Delphi blew air through her lips. "Honestly? I don't know. I hadn't planned that far ahead. I wasn't planning on getting out of this alive originally, remember. I don't know how much time I have left or anything. But you need to go back to August 1994 to get your timeline back on track and I suppose I need to get back to 2020. Even though there's nothing there for me." She laughed sadly.

Severus knew how she felt. To say it was somewhat of an anticlimax was an understatement. After everything they'd been through together, after all of their adventures and after killing the Dark Lord, having to go back to his original timeline alone was not appealing in the slightest. He had grown attached to this crazy, quirky witch and the thought of travelling back to 1994 without her made the future seem grey and colourless, and without purpose.

Squelching across the sodden grass, they reached the huge gravestone where they'd started their journey. The church clock above them showed it was close to midnight.

"So, this is goodbye, then?" Severus asked, feeling strangely empty.

Delphi looked up at him with her dark eyes full of sorrow. "I guess so."

They gazed at each other for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to say. The air was heavy with unspoken words. It was clear neither one of them wanted to leave, but what choice did they have? They didn't belong in 1981 after all.

Reluctantly, Delphi fished around in her top and pulled out the Golden Time-Turner. To her horror, it was cracked and broken, and all of the glowing blue sands of time were gone.

"Oh, shit," she said, holding it up for Severus to see. "Houston, we have a problem."


	21. Chapter 21

**PART 4: ACT 5**

Severus watched as Delphi frantically pulled out the silver Time-Turner from her top and found it was also cracked; the hourglass chamber was completely empty.

"The sands of time from the Time-Turners must have fused with the time from the diadem when you cast the spell," Severus mused. "I told you, the magic you performed was tremendously powerful."

"But what are we going to do now? We're stuck here! I'm so sorry, Severus." Delphi looked defeated, running her fingers through her hair in anguish.

Severus, always calm in a crisis, took a more pragmatic approach. "I would suggest the first thing we need to work out is how this little predicament will effect our timelines if we cannot get back to the future."

Delphi leaned back against the giant headstone, thinking hard. "There must have been several years' worth of time in the Golden Time-Turner. Add to that the three and a bit years from the diadem and if I'm lucky, I might have up to ten years of borrowed time, give or take."

"That's not an inconsiderable amount of time," he replied. "And what of my timeline?"

Delphi screwed up her eyes. "Well, here's where it gets tricky, because now there's two of you running concurrently at different ages. So I would guess that, all things being equal, _current you_ would cease to exist when _1981 you_ catches up to the point where I first found you in 1994. BUT, in the future I'm no longer going to be conceived because, technically, I don't actually exist. So it's all a bit fucked, really."

Severus took that in. "So you're saying, you don't know how long I have?"

"No idea," she admitted. "You could have thirteen years, or you might live to the end of your natural life providing you don't bump into your past self."

"It appears there is no immediate threat to our existence, then," he confirmed. "So we have time."

"Time for what?" Delphi sensed Severus had a plan.

"You have used up the time in one of the _Fauxcruxes_. But there are still three remaining."

Delphi stared at Severus, still not catching on.

"The _Fauxcruxes _contain time. Time that could be used to make a Philosopher's Stone."

Delphi's eyes widened. "You want us to create a Philosopher's Stone? How is that going to help anything?"

"Think about it. You said it yourself: now you've killed your father you don't technically exist, you're living on borrowed time. I may or may not have several years left also. To be frank, I don't want to live them on my own."

Delphi's breath caught in her throat. "What are you saying?"

Severus looked at Delphi. "I'm saying, I don't want to live in this world if you're not in it. So we're going to find a way to extend both of our lives. And this is the most logical way."

Delphi threw her arms around Severus and kissed him with unbridled joy. This time, Severus responded with gusto and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Now he knew for sure; Lily would always be his first love but there was room in his heart for more than one brilliant witch.

"Do you really think we'll be able to make a Philosopher's Stone?" Delphi asked breathlessly after they eventually broke their embrace.

"I don't see why not. You've just destroyed the darkest wizard the world has ever seen. Creating a portal to eternal life should be a walk in the park compared to that."

Delphi grinned as the full impact of what Severus was saying began to sink in.

"Tracking down the other _Fauxcruxes_ isn't going to be easy, and neither is finding out Nicholas Flamel's secrets. But just think what else we can do. We could travel the world, Severus! We're about to live through one of the greatest decades of music! We can watch AC/DC on tour! And Duran Duran, and Prince. The Haçienda isn't even bloody open yet!"

Severus watched Delphi jumping up and down in excitement. "I have no idea what you're on about."

She laughed, her melodious tinkling laugh. "We're free, Severus. Free!"

Severus reflected on the impact of that word. Delphi was right; he now had a freedom he'd never dare imagine. He no longer had to carry around a stone of guilt and obligation with him. He no longer had to serve the Dark Lord, Dumbledore, or Lily's memory. And he no longer had to teach mindless dunderheads! The possibilities were endless, and it was all down to Delphi. He was about to face the future with an incredible woman who had shook up his present and healed his past.

Smiling, Delphi took him by the hand and kissed him once more as the church bell tolled midnight, signalling the beginning of the first day of the rest of their lives.

**THE END**


End file.
